There is one thing about being President -- nobody can tell you when to sit down.

I could have spoken from Rhode Island where I have been staying ... But I felt that, in speaking from the house of Lincoln, of Jackson, and of Wilson, my words would better convey both the sadness I feel in the action I was compelled today to make and the firmness with which I intend to pursue this course until the orders of the federal court at Little Rock can be executed without unlawful interference." (On sending troops to enforce integration in Little Rock AR High School)

I thought it completely absurd to mention my name in the same breath as the presidency.

Before a battle, planning is everything. Once the fighting has begun, it's worthless

It is better to have one person working with you than three people working for you.

It is well for us to pause, to acknowledge our debt to those who paid so large a share of freedom's price.

How far have we come in man's long pilgrimage from darkness toward light? Are we nearing the light-a day of freedom and of peace for all mankind? Or are the shadows of another night closing in upon us?