To a farmer seeking presidential aid in pressing a claim for damages, Lincoln exclaimed: “Why, my good sir. If I should attempt to consider every such individual case I should find work enough for twenty Presidents!” When his interlocutor failed to take the hint, Lincoln said he was reminded of an expert pilot back in Illinois who was deftly guiding a steamboat through some rapids. As the craft pitched and rolled in the turbulent water, a young boy accosted him with a plea: “Say, Mister Captain! I wish you would just stop your boat a minute—I’ve lost my apple overboard!” Visiting clergy often annoyed the president. One day when a minister called at the White House, Lincoln invited him to sit, then took his own chair and announced: “I am now ready to hear what you have to say.”
Source: Abraham Lincoln ∶ A Life ▫𓂃
(echo:: @ ⌗)