John F. Kennedy Quotes

“Unconditional war can no longer lead to unconditional victory. It can no longer serve to settle disputes. It can no longer concern the Great Powers alone. For a nuclear disaster, spread by wind and water and fear, could well engulf the great and the small, the rich and the poor, the committed and the uncommitted alike. Mankind must put an end to war--or war will put an end to mankind.”

“The basic problems facing the world today are not susceptible to a military solution.”

“Modern cynics and skeptics... see no harm in paying those to whom they entrust the minds of their children a smaller wage than is paid to those to whom they entrust the care of their plumbing.”

“For without belittling the courage with which men have died, we should not forget those acts of courage with which men have lived.”

“Disarmament without checks is but a shadow - and a community without law is but a shell.”

“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.”

“We have become more and more not a nation of athletes but a nation of spectators.”

“Each success brings with it the potential of failureand each failure brings with it the potential of success.”

“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.”

“Khrushchev reminds me of the tiger hunter who has picked a place on the wall to hang the tiger's skin long before he has caught the tiger. This tiger has other ideas.”

“We are under exercised as a nation. We look instead of play. We ride instead of walk. Our existence deprives us of the minimum of physical activity essential for healthy living.”

“The US Airforce assures me that UFO's pose no threat to National Security.”

“The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth.”

“The only reason to give a speech is to change the world.”

“I can't see that it's wrong to give him a little legal experience before he goes out to practice law.”

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

“While we cannot guarantee that we shall one day be first, we can guarantee that any failure to make this effort will make us last.”

“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)”

“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.”

“Above all, we are coming to understand that the arts incarnate the creativity of a free people.”

“The American, by nature, is optimistic. He is experimental, an inventor and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly.”

“And this Nation, for all its hopes and all its boasts, will not be fully free until all its citizens are free.”

“The voters selected us, in short, because they had confidence in our judgement and our ability to exercise that judgement from a position where we could determine what were their own best interest, as a part of the nation's interest.”

“When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.”

“To state the facts frankly is not to despair the future nor indict the past. The prudent heir takes careful inventory of his legacies and gives a faithful accounting to those whom he owes an obligation of trust.”