When I do good, I feel good, when I do bad, I feel bad, and that's my religion.

The saying frames “religion” not as doctrine or denominational allegiance but as an inner moral compass: ethical action produces an immediate, experiential confirmation (“I feel good”), while wrongdoing brings self-reproach (“I feel bad”). Read this way, it aligns with a practical, conscience-centered morality—virtue is validated by its effects on one’s character and sense of integrity rather than by external ritual or theological claims. The aphorism is often used to portray Lincoln as a skeptic or as holding a broadly humanistic faith grounded in empathy and accountability. However, because the attribution is uncertain, the quote’s significance today may tell us more about modern desires to enlist Lincoln for a secular moral message than about Lincoln’s documented religious views.