John F. Kennedy Quotes

My brother Bob doesn't want to be in government - he promised Dad he'd go straight.

Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.

The guiding principle of this Nation has been, is now, and ever shall be IN GOD WE TRUST.

In the dark days and darker nights when England stood alone-and most men save Englishmen despaired of England's life-he [Churchill] mobilized the English language and sent it into battle.

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.

We must abolish nuclear weapons, or they will abolish us.

The greater our knowledge increases the more our ignorance unfolds.

Irrational barriers and ancient prejudices fall quickly when the question of survival itself is at stake.

There is always inequality in life. Some men are killed in a war and some men are wounded and some men never leave the country. Life is unfair.

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

The only unchangable certainty in life is that nothing is unchangable or certain.

Wealth is the means, and people are the ends. All our material riches will avail us little if we do not use them to expand the opportunities of our people.

I think the American people expect more from us than cries of indignation and attack. The times are too grave, the challenge too urgent, and the stakes too high - to permit the customary passions of political debate.

Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners, and necessity has made us allies. Those whom God has so joined together, let no man put asunder.

Everywhere immigrants have enriched and strengthened the fabric of American life.

Peace does not rest in charters and covenants alone. It lies in the hearts and minds of the people.

I am not the Catholic candidate for President. I am the Democratic Party's candidate for President, who happens also to be a Catholic.

For to save mankind's future freedom, we must face up to any risk that is necessary. We will always seek peace - but we will never surrender.

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.

I'm an idealist without illusions.

I am sorry to say that there is too much point to the wisecrack that life is extinct on other planets because their scientists were more advanced than ours.

In free society art is not a weapon...Artists are not engineers of the soul.

The true democracy, living and growing and inspiring, puts its faith in the people - faith that the people will not simply elect men who will represent their views ably and faithfully, but will also elect men who will exercise their conscientious judgment - faith that the people will not condemn those whose devotion to principle leads them to unpopular courses, but will reward courage, respect honor, and ultimately recognize right.

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.

Wherever there is smoke there is a good smoke machine.

We hold the view that the people make the best judgment in the long run.

The courage of life is often a less dramatic spectacle than the courage of a final moment; but it is no less a magnificent mixture of triumph and tragedy.

Unless liberty flourishes in all lands, it cannot flourish in one.

We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world or to make it the last.

There is no other airport in the world which serves so many people and so many airplanes. This is an extraordinary airport. . . it could be classed as one of the wonders of the modern world.

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.

Arms alone are not enough to keep the peace. It must be kept by men.

Failure has no friends.

It is increasingly clear that no matter what party is in power, so long as our national security needs keep rising, an economy hampered by restrictive tax rates will never produce enough jobs or enough profits.

There is a terrific disadvantage in not having the abrasive quality of the press applied to you daily. Even though we never like it, and even though we wish they didn't write it, and even though we disapprove, there isn't any doubt that we could not do the job at all in a free society without a very, very active press.

And so it is to the printing press--to the recorder of mans deeds, the keeper of his conscience, the courier of his news-- that we look for strength and assistance, confident that with your help man will be what he was born to be: free and independent.

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.

The war against hunger is truly mankind's war of liberation.

This is a great country and requires a good deal of all of us, so I can imagine nothing more important than for all of you to continue to work in public affairs and be interested in them, not only to bring up a family, but also give part of your time to your community, your state, and your country.

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.

One of the best ways to expand his horizon is through a regular reading program.

I think we're going to have to do better. Mr. Nixon talks about our being the strongest country in the world. I think we are today, but we were far stronger relative to the Communists 5 years ago. And what is of great concern is that the balance of power is in danger of moving with them. They made a breakthrough in missiles and by 1961, '2, and '3, they will be outnumbering us in missiles.

If you face a man's job, find a woman!

In a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the moon it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there.

Our true choice is not between tax reduction on the one hand and the avoidance of large federal deficits on the other. It is increasingly clear that no matter what party is in power, so long as our national security needs keep rising, an economy hampered by restrictive tax rates will never produce enough revenues to balance our budget, just as it will never produce enough jobs or enough profits.

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

Anyone who can solve the problems of water will be worthy of two Nobel prizes - one for peace and one for science.

What we seek to advance, what we seek to develop in all of our colleges and universities, are educated men and women who can bear the burdens of responsible citizenship, who can make judgments about life as it is, and as it must be, and encourage the people to make those decisions which can bring not only prosperity and security, but happiness to the people of the United Sates and those who depend upon it.