John F. Kennedy (1917 - 1963)
Success and Failure
Politics, Government and Power
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable.
When power narrows the areas of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existance. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.
When power leads man towards 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 his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.
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, especially when that questioning is disinterested, for they determine whether we use power or power uses us.
Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.
Our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings.
The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.
Leadership
Courage and Fear
Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.
The Courage that we all prize and seek is not the courage to die decently, but to live manfully.
Truths, Ideas, Ideals to Live by
Conformity is the jailer of freedom, and the enemy of growth.
Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind.
The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.
A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.
The greatest enemy of the truth is very often not the lie--deliberate, contrived, and dishonest, but the myth persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.
Optimism and Pessimism
Mistakes, oversights, misfortune
Opinion
Too often we... enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.
Comebacks, Humor
The great French Marshall Lyautey once asked his gardener to plant a tree. The gardener objected that the tree was slow growing and would not reach maturity for 100 years. The
...probably the greatest concentration of talent and genius in this house except for perhaps those times when Thomas Jefferson ate alone.
When I became President, what surprised me most was that things were just as bad as I'd been saying they were.
Do you realize the responsibility I carry? I'm the only person standing between Nixon and the White House.
History
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what
Let the world go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and 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, at home and around the world!
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty.
All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.
I believe this nation should commit itself, to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.
But peace does not rest in the charters and covenants alone. It lies in the hearts and minds of all people. So let us not rest all our hopes on parchment and on paper, let us strive to build peace, a desire for peace, a willingness to work for peace in the hearts and minds of all of our people. I believe that we can. I believe the problems of human destiny are not beyond the reach of human beings.
We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy - but because they are hard! Because that challenge is one we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone and one we intend to win!
We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.
For in the final analysis, our most basic common link, is that we all inhabit this small planet, we all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children's futures, and we are all mortal.
Perspective on Life
Our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings.
We need men who can dream of things that never were.
We must use time as a tool, not as a crutch.
We stand for freedom. That is our conviction for ourselves; that is our only commitment to others.
Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind.
There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.
Dreams
Rich, Poor, Generosity
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.
The quality of American life must keep pace with the quantity of American goods. This country cannot afford to be materially rich and spiritually poor.
Education, personal development, personal responsibility
Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource.
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.
The American, by nature, is optimistic. He is experimental, an inventor and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly.
The ancient Greek definition of happiness was the full use of your powers along lines of excellence.
Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.
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