An unusual tribute ( 赞扬) was paid to Abraham Lincoln by Carl Sandburg. The poet wrote, “Not often in the story of 1 does a man arrive on earth who is both steel and velvet (温柔的), who is as 2 as rock and soft as floating fog, who 3 in his heart and mind the paradox (自相矛盾) of terrible storm and 4 unspeakable and perfect.”
Lincoln showed how a person can 5 both a will of iron and a heart of tenderness（温柔）. Nothing stopped the 6 during the American Civil War from his “noble” cause, and few persons have ever 7 more criticism than Lincoln. 8 , he was no more a man of 9 than one of velvet.
When General Robert E. Lee and his army 10 , Lincoln sent an unexpected 11 to the enemy commander. “Tell your men that they may keep their 12 ; they will need them for plowing（犁地）. And tell your men that they may keep their guns; they will need them for 13 ,” said the president. When Lee read those words, he 14 .
For each of us there is a time for toughness and a time for tenderness. A time for 15 and a time for sympathy. An iron will is not the same as an iron spirit. Another 16 American Martin Luther King, Jr. some hundred years later 17 us to exhibit tough minds and 18 hearts.
Be 19 tough; your determination will overcome great troubles along life’s path. But let your 20 be soft; your sympathy and love will make the journey worth it.