Henry Sturgess:
I'd like you to chop this tree down, in a single swing.
Abraham Lincoln:
That tree? It's got to be more than a foot across. That's impossible.
Henry Sturgess:
But it isn't a tree. It's what you hate most in the world. So tell me, Mr. Lincoln: what do you hate?
Abraham Lincoln:
I hate Jack Barts.
Henry Sturgess:
[motions to the tree]
Then strike him down.
[Abe swings, chopping into the tree, but fails to cut it down]
Henry Sturgess:
Well, clearly you don't hate him that much. What do you *really* hate?
Abraham Lincoln:
[swings, but again the tree stays upright]
I hate that my mother was taken away.
Henry Sturgess:
Inadequate.
Abraham Lincoln:
[swings]
I hate that we were afraid.
Henry Sturgess:
And?
Abraham Lincoln:
[swings]
That my mother, father, everyone that we knew, lived in fear!
Henry Sturgess:
Pathetic.
Abraham Lincoln:
[swings]
I hate that I was too small!
Henry Sturgess:
Weak.
Abraham Lincoln:
Yes!
Henry Sturgess:
And that you failed.
Abraham Lincoln:
Yes!
Henry Sturgess:
To protect her.
Abraham Lincoln:
Yes!
Henry Sturgess:
That you... Let her die.
[With a roar, Abe swings, chopping straight through the trunk of the tree and toppling it to the ground. Abe looks stunned]
Henry Sturgess:
Power, Lincoln, *real* power, comes not from hate, but from truth.
