When Abraham Lincoln said that, “Human nature can be modified to some extent, but human nature cannot be changed,” he is trying to tell the people that he believes that human nature is flexible but not breakable. There is no doubt that Lincoln has reason to believe this because throughout his life he was tormented by struggle and conflict. This most definitely influenced his view of humans and the reason they act the way they do. However, the quote still rings true despite the bias created by the turmoil in his life.
The fact that human nature varies is obvious. Wherever anyone looks they can find good people and bad, strange and normal, right and wrong, etc. It is everywhere, thus human nature is different everywhere. Non-the-less, some people look at all of the human species as one generalized and stereotypical body. If human nature could not be at least altered then there would be no difference in the way that all of humanity across the earth acts. Our natural human instincts and ideologies are the foundation for our behavior. Thus, since there are countless behavioral differences in humans all across the world there must be “modifications” or slight tweaks of the nature of certain groups or individuals.
Also, human nature in and of itself has changed throughout time. From the first young, thriving civilizations to sprout among the Fertile Crescent, to the fast paced, and eccentric countries of the twenty first century, human nature and behavior has adapted to the development of new technology, shifts in power and control, advancement in philosophy, and much more. The most important idea though is behind the second part of Lincoln’s quote where he states that “human nature cannot be changed.”
Human nature does stand unbreakable and unchangeable because, though it can be altered to extreme extents; it cannot go beyond the realm of good and evil. Seen by most, as the most basic and fundamental conflict in existence, good and evil constantly influences humans and their actions, and inversely affects the nature of humanity itself. As a matter of fact, the way people define anything on earth is through the use of difference from something else. This includes the idea of human nature. Though able to change from good to evil and vice versa, human nature cannot be anything else but one or the other, or a balance of the two. This sets the scene for a very unusual paradox.
In conclusion, the ability to change human nature and behavior is human nature in and of itself. Thus it can vary greatly but, so long as it does, it will never truly change. The volatile and diverse state that it remains in is the way that it is meant to be. To stop it from being “altered” would be a change in human nature but the fact of the matter is, it would also be inhuman to do so. Besides, the power to stop the raging war between the opposites of good and evil does not exist. Neither would we want to do it, lest we lose the ability to feel good as opposed to bad, love as opposed to hatred or any of the other polar ideologies that stem from the fight between good and bad.
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