For me it’s the last sentence of Lincoln’s First Inaugural. Let me quote the whole paragraph for context.
The sentence consists of two memorable phrases “mystic chords of memory” and “better angels of our nature” joined by a wonderful double-metaphor: the chords both stretch in space and “swell the chorus” with music. The sentence has a lovely balance and rhythm but is also rich with historical resonance; it was uttered at the moment of supreme crisis in US history. It’s prophetic but tinged with tragedy and irony: Lincoln’s own assassination and legend were crucial to the national reconciliation he predicted.
There have been other important sentences in world history, and some just as beautiful, but I can’t think of anything that combines beauty and importance in quite the same way.
38For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
It’s tough to match the standard Lincoln set. Another great example is the end of his Second Inaugural Address, in which he goes on and on, yet never lapses from absolute clarity:
The sheer humanity of this utterance never fails to impress me.
I’m also fond of this sentence often attributed to Dorothy Parker, both for its sentiment and for its admirable construction:
eta: Oops, the second example meets the thread’s challenge only by means of a semicolon.
You’ll have to be a computer font wonk to get this. I worked for a typesetting equipment manufacturer with a full-on font department. The head of the department, John Matt (now deceased) had this sign over his desk:
I teared up, back in 1992 during the riots, when Rodney King said “can we all get along?” Millions were listening to hear what he had to say. He had every reason to call for vengeance and violence. But he didn’t.
