I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)

Speech, Washington, DC (1865)

Most commonly attributed to a speech in Washington (1865), but also recalled by Joseph Gillespie (author, long-time friend) regarding pardons for some deserters in the summer of 1864 (The Lincoln Memorial: Album-Immortelles, ed. O. Oldroyd, 1882)