Edmund Vance Cooke, The Uncommon Commoner
“
O, Uncommon Commoner! may your name Forever lead like a living flame! Unschooled scholar! how did you learn The wisdom a lifetime may not earn? Unsainted martyr! higher than saint! You were a man with a man's constraint. In the world, of the world was your lot; With it and for it the fight you fought, And never till Time is itself forgot And the heart of man is a pulseless clot Shall the blood flow slow, when we think the thought Of Lincoln!
— Edmund Vance Cooke
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "O, Uncommon Commoner! may your name Forever lead like a living flame! Unschooled scholar! how did you learn The wisdom a lifetime may not earn? Unsainted martyr! higher than saint! You were a man with a man's constraint. In the world, of the world was your lot; With it and for it the fight you fought, And never till Time is itself forgot And the heart of man is a pulseless clot Shall the blood flow slow, when we think the thought Of Lincoln!" in the context of "Edmund Vance Cooke, The Uncommon Commoner" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Abraham Lincoln" (Quotes about Lincoln: These are arranged alphabetically by author, followed by some of the more notable anonymous quotations about him., Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations: Quotes reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 458-59)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed February 05, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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About Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln, a self-taught lawyer and politician, steered the United States through its most tumultuous period, the Civil War. His unwavering commitment to preserving the Union and abolishing slavery forever altered the course of American history and enshrined him as a champion of equality and justice.
About Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln, a self-taught lawyer and politician, steered the United States through its most tumultuous period, the Civil War. His unwavering commitment to preserving the Union and abolishing slavery forever altered the course of American history and enshrined him as a champion of equality and justice.
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