quotes by John F. Kennedy

"When written in Chinese, the word "crisis" is composed of two characters. One represents danger, the other opportunity."
— John F. Kennedy

"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
— John F. Kennedy

"Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names."
— John F. Kennedy

"The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened."
— John F. Kennedy

"...libraries should be open to all--except the censor."
— John F. Kennedy

"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."
— John F. Kennedy

"

The great enemy of truth is very often not the lie--deliberate, contrived and dishonest--but the myth--persistent, persuasive and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the cliches of our forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."
— John F. Kennedy

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
— John F. Kennedy

"Let the word 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, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty."
— John F. Kennedy

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."
— John F. Kennedy

""If by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people-their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights and their civil liberties-someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal", then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal.""


"
— John F. Kennedy

""Whether they be young in spirit, or young in age, the members of
the Democratic Party must never lose that youthful zest for new
ideas and for a better world, which has made us great."
"
— John F. Kennedy

"We choose to go to the moon not because it is easy, but because it is difficult."
— John F. Kennedy

"we must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives"
— John F. Kennedy

"Liberty without Learning is always in peril and Learning without Liberty is always in vain."
— John F. Kennedy

"Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan."
— John F. Kennedy

"I'm an idealist without illusions."
— John F. Kennedy

"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other."
— John F. Kennedy

"If this nation is to be wise as well as strong, if we are to achieve our destiny, then we need more new ideas for more wise men reading more good books in more public libraries. These libraries should be open to all—except the censor. We must know all the facts and hear all the alternatives and listen to all the criticisms. Let us welcome controversial books and controversial authors. For the Bill of Rights is the guardian of our security as well as our liberty."
— John F. Kennedy

"There are costs and risks to a program of action, but they are far less than the long range risks and costs of comfortable inaction."
— John F. Kennedy

"What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents."
— John F. Kennedy

"If you make peaceful revolution impossible you make violent revolution inevitable."
— John F. Kennedy

" Above all, we are coming to understand that the arts incarnate the creativity of a free people. When the creative impulse cannot flourish, when it cannot freely select its methods and objects, when it is deprived of spontaneity, then society severs the root of art."
— John F. Kennedy

"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 America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
"
— John F. Kennedy

"I look forward to a future in which our country will match its military strength with our moral restraint, its wealth with our wisdom, its power with our purpose"
— John F. Kennedy

"The supreme reality of our time is the vulnerability of our planet. "
— John F. Kennedy

"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."
— John F. Kennedy

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. "
— John F. Kennedy

"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."
— John F. Kennedy

"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.
"
— John F. Kennedy

"“A revolution is coming – a revolution which will be peaceful if we are wise enough; compassionate if we care enough; successful if we are fortunate enough – but a revolution which is coming whether we will it or not. We can affect its character; we cannot alter its inevitability.”

"
— John F. Kennedy (Profiles in Courage: Decisive Moments in the Lives of Celebrated Americans)

"To those whom much is given, much is expected."
— John F. Kennedy (The Uncommon Wisdom of JFK: A Portrait in His Own Words)

"Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans."
— John F. Kennedy

"A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on."
— John F. Kennedy

"If this nation is to be wise as well as strong, if we are to achieve our destiny, then we need more new ideas for more wise men reading more good books in more public libraries. These libraries should be open to all-except the censor. We must know all the facts and hear all the alternatives and listen to all the criticisms. Let us welcome controversial books and controversial authors. For the Bill of Rights is the guardian of our security as well as our liberty."
— John F. Kennedy

"All this will not be finished in the first hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first thousand days, nor in the life of this administration, nor even, perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let use begin."
— John F. Kennedy (Profiles in Courage)

"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. "
— John F. Kennedy

""There is, in addition to a courage with which men die; a courage by which men must live.""
— John F. Kennedy

""But wherever we are, we must all, in our daily lives, live up to the age-old faith that peace and freedom walk together. In too many of our cities today, the peace is not secure because freedom is incomplete." (John F. Kennedy, June 10, 1963, American University speech)"
— John F. Kennedy

""And is not peace, in the last analysis, basically a matter of human rights -- the right to live out our lives without fear of devastation – the right to breathe air as nature provided it -- the right of future generations to a healthy existence?" (John F. Kennedy, June 10, 1963, American University speech)"
— John F. Kennedy

"We need men who can dream of things that never were.
"
— John F. Kennedy

"The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.
"
— John F. Kennedy

"Our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solvedby man. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings."
— John F. Kennedy

"Once you say you're going to settle for second, that's what happens to you in life."
— John F. Kennedy

"The life of the arts, far from being an interruption, a distraction, in the life of the nation, is close to the center of a nation's purpose - and is a test to the quality of a nation's civilization.""
— John F. Kennedy

"The ancient Greek definition of happiness was the full use of your powers along lines of excellence."
— John F. Kennedy

"We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.
"
— John F. Kennedy

"I really don't know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it is because in addition to the fact that the sea changes and the light changes, and ships change, it is because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have, in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch it we are going back from whence we came"
— John F. Kennedy

"Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures. And however undramatic the pursuit of peace, the pursuit must go on."
— John F. Kennedy

"Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind"
— John F. Kennedy