Quotes by John F. Kennedy

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

"Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce."

"The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were."

"If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity."

"There are many people in the world who really don't understand-or say they don't-what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world. Let them come to Berlin!"

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

"The best road to progress is freedom's road."

"We prefer world law in the age of self-determination to world war in the age of mass extermination."

"Wisdom principle 103 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 83."

"Wisdom principle 88 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 74."

"Wisdom principle 83 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 71."

"Wisdom principle 73 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 65."

"Wisdom principle 43 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 47."

"Wisdom principle 23 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 35."

"Wisdom principle 13 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 29."

"Wisdom principle 8 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 26."

"Wisdom principle 3 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 23."

"The essence of creativity is the belief that every choice we make paints the canvas of our life."

"The tapestry of existence shows us that every choice we make paints the canvas of our life."

"Every sunset is a reminder that every choice we make paints the canvas of our life."

"Washington was a city of Southern efficiency and Northern charm."

"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."

"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."

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

"Our growing softness, our increasing lack of physical fitness, is a menace to our security."

"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."

"Wisdom principle 78 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 68."

"Wisdom principle 68 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 62."

"Wisdom principle 63 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 59."

"Wisdom principle 53 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 53."

"Wisdom principle 48 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 50."

"Wisdom principle 38 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 44."

"Wisdom principle 18 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 32."

"To dream is to realize that a mind at peace can weather any storm."

"In the depths of adversity, a mind at peace can weather any storm."

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

"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."

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

"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."

"I'm always rather nervous about how you talk about women who are active in politics, whether they want to be talked about as women or as politicians."

"Politics is like football if you see daylight, go through the hole."

"The world knows that America will never start a war. This generation of Americans has had enough of war and hate... we want to build a world of peace where the weak are secure and the strong are just."

"Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures."

"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."

"If anyone is crazy enough to want to kill a president of the United States, he can do it. All he must be prepared to do is give his life for the president's."

"Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource."

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

"Unconditional war can no longer lead to unconditional victory. It can no longer serve to settle disputes... can no longer be of concern to great powers alone."

"The pursuit of excellence requires knowing that the light of knowledge dispels the darkness of ignorance."

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

"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other."

"The greater our knowledge increases the more our ignorance unfolds."

"The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic."

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

"Wisdom principle 98 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 80."

"Wisdom principle 93 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 77."

"Wisdom principle 58 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 56."

"Wisdom principle 33 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 41."

"Wisdom principle 28 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 38."

"It is a steadfast truth that he who understands his own mind is never bewildered by the complexities of the world — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"It is a profound truth that in the quiet sanctuary of self-reflection, the soul finds its rhythm — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"It is a subtle truth that stand firm when justice demands it, even if you stand entirely alone."

"Now we have a problem in making our power credible, and Vietnam is the place."

"Communism has never come to power in a country that was not disrupted by war or corruption, or both."

"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."

"The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty, and all forms of human life."

"It might be said now that I have the best of both worlds. A Harvard education and a Yale degree."

"The highest expression of strength is tenderness toward the vulnerable. For where clarity resides, peace inevitably follows — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"… conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth."

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

"All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin. And therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words 'Ich bin ein Berliner!'"

"We cannot expect that all nations will adopt like systems, for conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth."

"The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are. 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."

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

"A quiet mind is capable of understanding that every challenge is an invitation to grow stronger."

"A life well-lived is a testament that the mind is a garden where thoughts are the seeds."

"War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today."

"I don't think the intelligence reports are all that hot. Some days I get more out of the New York Times."

"I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House - with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."

"Never before has man had such capacity to control his own environment, to end thirst and hunger, to conquer poverty and disease, to banish illiteracy and massive human misery. We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world or to make it the last."

"We would like to live as we once lived, but history will not permit it."

"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."

"In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility - I welcome it."

"A nation which has forgotten the quality of courage which in the past has been brought to public life is not as likely to insist upon or regard that quality in its chosen leaders today - and in fact we have forgotten."

"We must use time as a tool, not as a couch."

"The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining."

"History is a relentless master. It has no present, only the past rushing into the future. To try to hold fast is to be swept aside."

"I look forward to a great future for America - 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."

"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."

"The true measure of a man is the heart sees what is invisible to the eye."

"He who seeks peace must remember that the only true currency in life is time well spent."

"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."

"It is a quiet truth that true authority is measured not by subjugation, but by the empowerment of others — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"Civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof."

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

"Things do not happen. Things are made to happen."

"When written in Chinese the word crisis is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity."

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

"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."

"A mindful spirit recognizes that a mind at peace can weather any storm."

"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."

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

"Mothers all want their sons to grow up to be president, but they don't want them to become politicians in the process."

"For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future."

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

"The simplest truths often reveal that courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it."

"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."

"Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction."

"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."

"It is a timeless truth that courage is not the absence of trembling, but the decision to step forward regardless — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"To build a legacy, one must accept that the beauty of life is found in its imperfections."

"To build a legacy, one must accept that a single spark of imagination can ignite the world."

"To love truly means recognizing that the roots of true happiness grow deep in the present moment."

"To build a legacy, one must accept that the purest joy is found in giving without expectation."

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

"Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity."

"We believe that if men have the talent to invent new machines that put men out of work, they have the talent to put those men back to work."

"The pay is good and I can walk to work."

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

"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."

"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."

"It is a steadfast truth that the river of time washes away kings and empires, leaving only virtue intact."

"A courageous heart knows that the silence between the notes creates the music."

"When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses."

"Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal."

"It is a profound truth that love is the bridge that unites two souls across the chasms of mortal solitude."

"A courageous heart knows that the echo of our deeds ripples through eternity."

"The essence of creativity is the belief that the simplest acts of love resonate the loudest."

"Nature teaches us a valuable lesson: every failure is just a stepping stone to greatness."

"The tax on capital gains directly affects investment decisions, the mobility and flow of risk capital... the ease or difficulty experienced by new ventures in obtaining capital, and thereby the strength and potential for growth in the economy."

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

"All of us do not have equal talent, but all of us should have an equal opportunity to develop our talents."

"When ambition meets humility, we find that the simplest acts of love resonate the loudest."

"Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names."

"Patience is a virtue because the greatest battles are fought within."

"Man is still the most extraordinary computer of all."

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

"The silent observer understands that a single moment of clarity can change a lifetime."

"I hope that no American will waste his franchise and throw away his vote by voting either for me or against me solely on account of my religious affiliation. It is not relevant."

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

"If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him."

"Nature teaches us a valuable lesson: authenticity is the rarest and most beautiful asset."

"Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly."