Broken eggs cannot be mended; but Louisiana has nothing to do now but to take her place in the Union as it was, barring the already broken eggs. The sooner she does so, the smaller will be the amount of that which will be past mending. This government cannot much longer play a game in which it stakes all, and its enemies stake nothing. Those enemies must understand that they cannot experiment for ten years trying to destroy the government, and if they fail still come back into the Union unhurt." - Meaning and context.">
Letter to August Belmont (31 July 1832) in "The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln" edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume V, p. 350-351
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Broken eggs cannot be mended; but Louisiana has nothing to do now but to take her place in the Union as it was, barring the already broken eggs. The sooner she does so, the smaller will be the amount of that which will be past mending. This government cannot much longer play a game in which it stakes all, and its enemies stake nothing. Those enemies must understand that they cannot experiment for ten years trying to destroy the government, and if they fail still come back into the Union unhurt.

— Abraham Lincoln

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Broken eggs cannot be mended; but Louisiana has nothing to do now but to take her place in the Union as it was, barring the already broken eggs. The sooner she does so, the smaller will be the amount of that which will be past mending. This government cannot much longer play a game in which it stakes all, and its enemies stake nothing. Those enemies must understand that they cannot experiment for ten years trying to destroy the government, and if they fail still come back into the Union unhurt." in the context of "Letter to August Belmont (31 July 1832) in "The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln" edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume V, p. 350-351" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Quote Image
Source: Wikiquote: "Abraham Lincoln" (Quotes, 1860s) 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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Abraham Lincoln

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.