John F. Kennedy Quotes

Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.

The Republican Party can lead any person to believe that their promises will be fulfilled in the future. They follow the Hitler line – no matter how big the lie; repeat it often enough and the masses will regard it as truth.

This country cannot afford to be materially rich and spiritually poor.

Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.

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 that 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 that I'm a "Liberal."

One person can make a difference, and everyone should try.

No responsibility of government is more fundamental than the responsibility of maintaining the highest standard of ethical behavior for those who conduct the public business.

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

Don't pray for an easy life, pray to be a stronger man.

Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.

If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.

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

Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly.

Today, we need a nation of Minutemen, citizens who are not only prepared to take arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as the basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom.

There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.

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.

So let us begin anew -- remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate. Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.

Our task is not to fix blame for the past, but to fix the course for the future.

The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.

Effort and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.

The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.

This is not a time to keep the facts from the people-to keep them complacent. To sound the alarm is not to panic but to seek action from an aroused public. For, as the poet Dante once said: 'The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in a time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.

Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.

Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.

We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light the candle that can guide us through that darkness to a safe and sane future.

Democracy may not be perfect, but at least I don't have to build a wall to keep my people in.

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.

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

For in a democracy, every citizen, regardless of his interest in politics, "hold office"; every one of us is in a position of responsibility; and, in the final analysis, the kind of government we get depends upon how we fulfill those responsibilities. We, the people, are the boss, and we will get the kind of political leadership, be it good or bad, that we demand and deserve.

I will splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it into the winds.

We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.

The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it.

Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.

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.

There is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment.

By calling attention to 'a well regulated militia,' 'the security of the nation,' and the right of each citizen 'to keep and bear arms,' our founding fathers recognized the essentially civilian nature of our economy... The Second Amendment still remains an important declaration of our basic civilian-military relationships in which every citizen must be ready to participate in the defense of his country. For that reason I believe the Second Amendment will always be important.

The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.

We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch - we are going back from whence we came.

There can be no progress if people have no faith in tomorrow.

Automation does not need to be our enemy. I think machines can make life easier for men, if men do not let the machines dominate them.

Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.

A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.

Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men.

Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.

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.

It is an unfortunate fact that we can secure peace only by preparing for war.

The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word 'crisis.' One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger--but recognize the opportunity.

I just received the following wire from my generous Daddy; Dear Jack, Don't buy a single vote more than is necessary. I'll be damned if I'm going to pay for a landslide.

Israel was not created in order to disappear - Israel will endure and flourish. It is the child of hope and the home of the brave. It can neither be broken by adversity nor demoralized by success. It carries the shield of democracy and it honors the sword of freedom.