Abraham Lincoln

1809–1865

American president

He studied and nearly mastered the six books of Euclid since he was a member of Congress. He began a course of rigid mental discipline with the intent to improve his faculties, especially his powers of logic and language. Hence his fondness for Euclid, which he carried with him on the circuit till he could demonstrate with ease all the propositions in the six books; often studying far into the night, with a candle near his pillow, while his fellow-lawyers, half a dozen in a room, filled the air with interminable snoring. (Autobiography)

TOPICS: Euclid

SOURCE: Lincoln’s autobiography