Who really said it

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power

Q: Did Abraham Lincoln say "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power"?

No. Lincoln never said or wrote this. The idea comes from orator Robert G. Ingersoll, who in an 1883 lecture on Lincoln declared, "Most people can bear adversity; but if you wish to know what a man really is give him power. This is the supreme test" — words about Lincoln that were later flattened into a quote by him. See Quote Investigator.

Not Abraham Lincoln — actually Robert G. Ingersoll Robert G. Ingersoll 1833–1899 · American lawyer & orator, “The Great Agnostic”

Disputed Rights unconfirmed

Lincoln never said or wrote this. The idea comes from orator Robert G. Ingersoll, who in an 1883 lecture on Lincoln declared, “Most people can bear adversity; but if you wish to know what a man really is give him power. This is the supreme test” — words about Lincoln that were later flattened into a quote by him. See Quote Investigator ↗.

Last verified 7 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Disputed — copy with the correction

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power” — Robert G. Ingersoll

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In context

Evoking the world of Robert G. Ingersoll — American lawyer & orator. Theme: "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

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Provenance

The source

Originator: Robert G. Ingersoll
First said: 1883 lecture on Abraham Lincoln (pub. Unity, April 1883)
Work: Abraham Lincoln (a Lecture)
Misattributed to: Abraham Lincoln (from c. 1931)

Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity; but if you wish to know what a man really is give him power. This is the supreme test. ↑ Ingersoll’s original — the polished “Nearly all men can stand adversity” version came decades later

Ingersoll spoke these words in praise of Lincoln’s restraint, continuing that it was “the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except on the side of mercy.” The subject of the tribute later got mistaken for its author.

Quote Investigator: full chronology of the quote

How the words traveled

Precursor: Thomas Carlyle wrote in 1841 that “for one man who can stand prosperity, there are a hundred that will stand adversity,” per Quote Investigator ↗.
Ingersoll’s 1883 lecture gave the modern formulation: “if you wish to know what a man really is give him power. This is the supreme test,” per Quote Investigator ↗.
The exact condensed wording “Nearly all men can stand adversity…” was first printed with Lincoln’s name in 1931 (Williamsburg Journal-Tribune, Iowa), per Quote Investigator ↗.
Snopes ↗ and Check Your Fact ↗ both rate the Lincoln attribution False.

Ingersoll’s original text (1883–1895) is in the public domain. The polished “Nearly all men can stand adversity” wording is a later paraphrase of unknown authorship and is not a genuine Lincoln quotation.

Fact-check

The misattribution

Almost universally credited to Abraham Lincoln on posters, mugs, and leadership slides — but the words are neither his nor even from his lifetime.

Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln died in 1865; the sentiment first appears in Robert Ingersoll’s lecture praising Lincoln, published in 1883, and the exact modern wording was not tied to Lincoln’s name until about 1931. Per Snopes ↗, Lincoln “never uttered or wrote those words, or words to that effect.”

Robert G. Ingersoll the real source

Ingersoll actually said, “Most people can bear adversity; but if you wish to know what a man really is give him power. This is the supreme test,” per Quote Investigator ↗. The tidy “Nearly all men can stand adversity” version is a later paraphrase.

Bottom line: the words were spoken about Lincoln by Robert G. Ingersoll — then, over decades of retelling, put into Lincoln’s mouth. See Quote Investigator ↗.

Context

Why it mattered

Ingersoll’s point was a tribute, not a maxim: he argued that power, not hardship, is the real test of character, and that Lincoln passed it by wielding near-absolute wartime authority with mercy. The irony is that a line composed to honor Lincoln’s restraint was eventually rewritten as if Lincoln were dispensing the wisdom himself.

Because the polished version scans like a stump-speech aphorism — and because Lincoln is a magnet for orphaned quotations — the misattribution spread far faster than the correction.

Words said about Lincoln became words said by Lincoln.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Power Character

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Nearly All Men Can Stand Adversity… (full investigation)quoteinvestigator.com

Traces the wording from Carlyle (1841) through Ingersoll (1883) to the 1931 Lincoln misattribution.

Did Lincoln Say, 'If You Want to Test a Man's Character…'?snopes.com

Snopes fact-check rating the Lincoln attribution False; credits Ingersoll’s 16 Jan 1883 speech.

Fact Check: Did Lincoln Say 'To Test A Man's Character, Give Him Power'?checkyourfact.com

Independent fact-check reaching the same verdict: written by Ingersoll about Lincoln, not by Lincoln.

Robert G. Ingersollen.wikipedia.org

Biography of the orator “The Great Agnostic,” the true source of the sentiment.

The true source

Robert G. Ingersoll

1833–1899 · American lawyer & orator

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833–1899) was a Civil War veteran, Illinois attorney general, and the most celebrated American orator of the Gilded Age, nicknamed “The Great Agnostic.” A great admirer of Lincoln, he delivered a widely reprinted lecture on him in the early 1880s. His tribute to Lincoln’s merciful use of power — not any words of Lincoln’s own — is the origin of this quotation.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Ingersoll, “Abraham Lincoln” (1883)

Robert G. Ingersoll, “Abraham Lincoln” (lecture), as printed in Unity (April 1883); earliest Lincoln misattribution documented in the Williamsburg Journal-Tribune (Iowa, 1931).

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power’?” Last verified 7 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/nearly-all-men-can-stand-adversity-but-if-you-want-to-test