John F. Kennedy Quotes

No country can possibly move ahead, no free society can possibly be sustained, unless it has an educated citizenry whose qualities of mind and heart permit it to take part in the complicated and increasingly sophisticated decisions that pour not only upon the President and upon the Congress, but upon all the citizens who exercise the ultimate power.

With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.

Libraries should be open to all - except the censor.
[Response to questionnaire in Saturday Review, October 29 1960]

The best way to progress is the path of freedom.

For, in the final analysis, our most common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.

I would encourage every American to walk as often as possible. It's more than healthy; it's fun.

The function and responsibility of the President is to set before the American people the unfinished business, the things we must do if we are going to succeed as a nation.

If an American, because his skin is dark, cannot eat lunch in a restaurant open to the public, if he cannot send his children to the best public school available, if he cannot vote for the public officials who represent him, if, in short, he cannot enjoy the full and free life which all of us want, then who among us would be content to have the color of his skin changed and stand in his place? Who among us would then be content with the counsels of patience and delay?

This is not the land of my birth, but it is the land for which I hold the greatest affection, and I certainly will come back in the springtime

What really counts is not the immediate act of courage or of valor, but those who bear the struggle day in and day out - not the sunshine patriots but those who are willing to stand for a long period of time.

I dont think that unless a greater effort is made by the Government to win popular support that the war can be won out there. In the final analysis, it is their war. They are the ones who have to win it or lose it. We can help them, we can give them equipment, we can send our men out there as advisers, but they have to win it, the people of Viet-Nam, against the Communists.

Democracy is never a final achievement. It is a call to an untiring effort.

We must formulate, with both imagination and restraint, a new approach to the Middle East - not pressing our case so hard that the Arabs feel their neutrality and nationalism are threatened ... while at the same time trying to hasten the inevitable Arab acceptance of the permanence of Israel ... We must ... seek a permanent settlement among Arabs and Israelis based not on an armed truce but on mutual self-interest.

A rising tide (in the economy) lifts all boats.

Life in freedom is not easy, and democracy is not perfect.

Easy money, sudden fortunes, increasingly powerful political machines and blatant corruption transformed much of the nation; and the Senate, as befits a democratic legislative body, accurately represented the nation.

A tax cut means higher family income and higher business profits and a balanced federal budget ... As the national income grows, the federal government will ultimately end up with more revenues. Prosperity is the real way to balance our budget. By lowering tax rates, by increasing jobs and income, we can expand tax revenues and finally bring our budget into balance.

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility - I welcome it.

We want to be first; not first if, not first but; but first!

President Roosevelt and President Truman and President Eisenhower had the same experience, they all made the effort to get along with the Russians. But every time, finally it failed. And the reason it failed was because the Communists are determined to destroy us, and regardless of what hand of friendship we may hold out or what arguments we may put up, the only thing that will make that decisive difference is the strength of the United States.

I'm an idealist without illusions.

No sane society chooses to commit national suicide.

The future promise of any nation can be directly measured by the present prospects of its youth.

It should be clear by now that a nation can be no stronger abroad than she is at home. Only an America which practices what it preaches about equal rights and social justice will be respected by those whose choice affects our future. Only an America which has fully educated its citizens is fully capable of tackling the complex problems and perceiving the hidden dangers of the world in which we live. And only an America which is growing and prospering economically can sustain the worldwide defenses of freedom, while demonstrating to all concerned the opportunities of our system and society.

Those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside

Just as I went into politics because Joe died, if anything happened to me tomorrow, my brother Bobby would run for my seat in the Senate. And if Bobby died, Teddy would take over for him.

If at times our actions seem to make life difficult for others, it is only because history has made life difficult for us all.

Freedom is being allowed to think your own thoughts and live your own life.

Nearly forty years ago, a distinguished Prime Minister of this country ... said, 'They may not be angels but they are at least our friends.'* I must say that I do not think that we probably demonstrated in that forty years that we are angels yet, but I hope we have demonstrated that we are at least friends.

There is an old saying that the course of civilization is a race between catastrophe and education. In a democracy such as ours, we must make sure that education wins the race.

The tax on capital gains directly affects investment decisions, the mobility and flow of risk capital ... the ease or difficulty experienced by new ventures in obtaining capital, and thereby the strength and potential for growth in the economy.

I ask particularly that those of you who are now in school will prepare yourselves to bear the burden of leadership over the next 40 years here in the United States, and make sure that the United States - which I believe almost alone has maintained watch and ward for freedom - that the United States meet its responsibility. That is a wonderful challenge for us as a people.

Automation does not need to be our enemy. I think machines can make life easier for men, if men do not let the machines dominate them.

In addition, the United States Delegation will suggest a series of steps to improve the United Nations machinery for the peaceful settlement of disputes ... - for extending the rule of international law. For peace is not solely a matter of military or technical problems - it is primarily a problem of politics and people.

Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride.

Only in the case of the Negro has the melting pot failed to bring a minority into the full stream of American life.

We believe that if men have the talent to invent new machines that put men out of work, they have the talent to put those men back to work.

It's only when they join together in a forward movement that this country moves ahead ...

A police state finds that it cannot command the grain to grow.

Most of us are conditioned for many years to have a political viewpoint - Republican or Democratic, liberal, conservative, or moderate. The fact of the matter is that most of the problems that we now face are technical problems, are administrative problems. They are very sophisticated judgments, which do not lend themselves to the great sort of passionate movements which have stirred this country so often in the past. - They deal with questions which are now beyond the comprehension of most men.

The education of our people should be a lifelong process by which we continue to feed new vigor into the lifestream of the Nation through intelligent, reasoned decisions. Let us not think of education only in terms of its costs, but rather in terms of the infinite potential of the human mind that can be realized through education. Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our Nation.

We cannot negotiate with people who say what's mine is mine and what's yours is negotiable.
[ The Berlin Crisis: Radio and Television Address to the American People (The White House, July 25, 1961)]

We are inclined to think that if we watch a football game or a baseball game, we have taken part in it.

The efforts of governments alone will never be enough. In the end, the people must choose and the people must help themselves.

Most cities are nouns. New York's a verb.

Partnership is not a posture but a process-a continuous process that grows stronger each year as we devote ourselves to common tasks.

I am grateful to those Members of Congress who worked so diligently to guide the Equal Pay Act through. It is a first step. It affirms our determination that when women enter the labor force they will find equality in their pay envelopes.

We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light a candle that can guide us through the darkness to a safe and sure future. For the world is changing. The old era is ending. The old ways will not do.
The problems are not all solved and the battles are not all won and we stand today on the edge of a New Frontier - a frontier of unknown opportunities and perils, a frontier of unfulfilled hopes and threats.
It has been a long road to this crowded convention city. Now begins another long journey, taking me into your cities and towns and homes all over America.
Give me your help. Give me your hand, your voice and your vote.

I am the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris, and I have enjoyed it.

We do not seek the unanimity that comes to those who water down all issues to the lowest common denominator - or to those who conceal their differences behind fixed smiles - or to those who measure unity by standards of popularity and affection, instead of trust and respect. We are allies. This is a partnership, not an empire. We are bound to have differences and disappointments - and we are equally bound to bring them out into the open, to settle them where they can be settled, and to respect each other's views when they cannot be settled.

We do not want an official state church. If ninety-nine percent of the population were Catholics, I would still be opposed to it. I do not want civil power combined with religious power. I want to make it clear that I am committed as a matter of deep personal conviction to separation.

O God, Thy Sea Is So Great And My Boat Is So Small

Only three things are real: God, human folly, and laughter. Since we can do nothing with the first two, we must do what we can with the third.

Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly.

All my life Ive known better than to depend on the experts. How could I have been so stupid, to let them go ahead?

Few nations do more than the United States to assist their least fortunate citizens-to make certain that no child, no elderly or handicapped citizen, no family in any circumstances in any State, is left without the essential needs for a decent and healthy existence. In too few nations, I might add, are the people aware of the progressive strides this country has taken in demonstrating the humanitarian side of freedom. Our record is a proud one-and it sharply refutes those who accuse us of thinking only in the materialistic terms of cash registers and calculating machines.

I don't think the intelligence reports are all that hot. Some days I get more out of the New York Times.

We shall be judged more by what we do at home than what we preach abroad.

It is insane that two men, sitting on opposite sides of the world, should be able to decide to bring an end to civilization.

It is in the American tradition to stand up for one's rights
even if the new way to stand up for one's rights is to sit down.

While much remains to be done to achieve full equality of economic opportunity-for the average woman worker earns only 60 percent of the average wage for men-this legislation is a significant step forward.

This country cannot afford to be materially rich and spiritually poor.

A committee is twelve men doing the work of one.

When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the area of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.

In our democracy every young person should have an equal opportunity to obtain a higher education, regardless of his station in life or financial means.

I believe in human dignity as the source of national purpose, human liberty as the source of national action, the human heart as the source of national compassion, and in the human mind as the source of our invention and our ideas

I am not so much concerned with the right of everyone to say anything he pleases as I am about our need as a self-governing people to hear everything relevant.

Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength of the nation.

The exploration of space will go ahead, whether we join in it or not, and it is one of the great adventures of all time, and no nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space.

So let us here resolve that Dag Hammarskjold did not live, or die, in vain. Let us call a truce to terror. Let us invoke the blessings of peace. And, as we build an international capacity to keep peace, let us join in dismantling the national capacity to wage war.

The men who create power make an indispensable contribution to the nation's greatness, but the men who question power make a contribution just as indispensable.

No American is ever made better off by pulling a fellow American down, and all of us are made better off whenever any one of us is made better off.

I do not belive that Washington should do for the people wha they can do for themselves through local and private effort.

I believe the American people are more concerned with a man's views and abilities than with the church to which he belongs. I believe the founding fathers meant it when they provided in Article VI of the Constitution that there should be no religious test for public office. And I believe that the American people mean to adhere to those principles today.

Not everyone has equal abilities, but everyone should have equal opportunity for education.

To further the appreciation of culture among all the people, to increase respect for the creative individual, to widen participation by all the processes and fulfillments of artthis is one of the fascinating challenges of these days.

When we got into office, the thing that surprised me most was to find that things were just as bad as we'd been saying they were.

[War] can no longer be of concern to great powers alone.

There is a connection, hard to explain logically but easy to feel, between achievement in public life and progress in the arts. The age of Pericles was also the age of Phidias. The age of Lorenzo de Medici was also the age of Leonardo da Vinci. The age Elizabeth also the age of Shakespeare. And the New Frontier for which I campaign in public life, can also be a New Frontier for American art.

Remember that our nation's first great leaders were also our first great scholars.

As science, of necessity, becomes more involved with itself, so also, of necessity, it becomes more international. I am impressed to know that of the 670 members of this Academy

Abroad, the balance of power is shifting. There are new and more terrible weapons
new and uncertain nations
new pressures of population and deprivation.

I am fully aware of the fact that the Democratic Party, by nominating someone of my faith, has taken on what many regard as a new and hazardous risk.

Lofty words cannot construct an alliance or maintain it; only concrete deeds can do that.

We go into space because whatever mankind must undertake, free men must fully share.

A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on. Ideas have endurance without death.

The torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century ... unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today.

If I don't have a woman for three days, I get terrible headaches.

There is, of course, a legitimate argument for some limitation upon immigration. We no longer need settlers for virgin lands, and our economy is expanding more slowly than in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The rising tide lifts all the boats.

For in a government of laws and not of men, no man, however prominent or powerful, and no mob however unruly or boisterous, is entitled to defy a court of law. If this country should ever reach the point where any man or group of men by force or threat of force could long defy the commands of our court and our Constitution, then no law would stand free from doubt, no judge would be sure of his writ, and no citizen would be safe from his neighbors.

A boy spends his time finding a girl to sleep with. A real man spends his time looking for the one worth waking up to.

A technological revolution on the farm has led to an output explosion
but we have not yet learned to harness that explosion usefully, while protecting our farmers' right to full parity income

Economic growth without social progress lets the great majority of the people remain in poverty, while a privileged few reap the benefits of rising abundance.

Failure has no friends.

I believe in an America where religious intolerance will someday end ... where every man has the same right to attend or not attend the church of his choice.

The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.

I want every American to be free to stand up for his rights, even if sometimes he has to sit down for them.

If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him.

You know nothing for sure ... except the fact that you know nothing for sure.