He could illustrate any subject, it seemed to me, with an appropriate and amusing anecdote.

He did not tell stories merely for the sake of telling them, but rather by way of illustration of something that had happened or been said.

There seemed to be no end to his fund of stories." Mr.Lamon states: "Lincoln frequently said that he lived by his humor and would have died without it.

His manner of telling a story was irresistibly comical, the fun of it dancing in his eyes and playing over every feature.

His face changed in an instant; the hard lines faded out of it, and the mirth seemed to diffuse itself all over him like a spontaneous tickle.