John Fitzgerald Kennedy Quotes (34 Quotes)

But peace does not rest in the charters and covenants alone. It lies in the hearts and minds of all people. So let us not rest all our hopes on parchment and on paper, let us strive to build peace, a desire for peace, a willingness to work for peace in the hearts and minds of all of our people. I believe that we can. I believe the problems of human destiny are not beyond the reach of human beings.

The Kennedy Administration's public pronouncements on the matter suggested that the presence of Soviet nuclear missiles in Castro's Cuba would represent an unacceptable strategic threat to the United States.... This urgent transformation of Cuba into an important strategic base by the presence of these large, long-range, and clearly offensive weapons of sudden mass-destruction constitutes an explicit threat to the peace and security of all the Americas....

For those to whom much is given, much is required.

Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one, and this country, and this great Continent of Europe, in a peaceful and hopeful globe.

Liberty without learning is always in peril and learning without liberty is always in vain.

Happiness is the full use of your powers along lines of excellence in a life affording scope.

To exclude from positions of trust and command all those below the age of 44 would have kept Jefferson from writing the Declaration of Independence, Washington from commanding the Continental Army, Madison from fathering the Constitution, Hamilton from serving as secretary of the treasury, Clay from being elected speaker of the House and Christopher Columbus from discovering America.

The full use of your powers along lines of excellence.

When things don't go well they like to blame presidents and that's something that presidents are paid for.

It would be premature to reach a judgment as to whether there is a gap or not a gap.

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

The mere absence of war is not peace. The mere absence of recession is not growth.

I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit.

My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth Gods work must truly be our own.

It is time for a new generation of leadership, to cope with new problems and new opportunities. For there is a new world to be won.

Every American ought to have the right to be treated as he would wish to be treated, as one would wish his children to be treated. This is not the case.

We cannot negotiate with those who say, 'What's mine is mine and what's yours is negotiable.'

Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind.

The so-called 'missile gap', a mainstay of Cold War rhetoric, was cited by the Kennedy campaign to justify its proposed increases in defense spending. Once in power, the Kennedy Administration proved less eager to publicize the embarrassing truth, that the United States had always been in a position of nuclear superiority. In short, the deterrent ratio might well shift to the Soviets so heavily, during the years of the missile gap, as to open to them a shortcut to world domination.... In the years of the gap, the Soviets may be expected to use their superior striking ability to achieve their objective in many ways which may not require launching an actual attack. Their missile power will be the shield from behind which they will slowly, but surely, advance....

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.

We choose to go to the moon, not because it's easy but because it's hard.

The supreme reality of our time is ... the vulnerability of this planet.

In the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding on the back of the tiger ended up inside.

Asked how he became a Navy hero, It was involuntary. They sank my boat.

Every time that we try to lift a problem from our own shoulders, and shift that problem to the hands of the government, to the same extent we are sacrificing the liberties of our people.

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

All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.

Where there is no vision, the people perish....

Sometimes party loyalty asks too much.

... Of those to whom much is given, much is required. And when at some future date the high court of history sits in judgment on each of us recording whether in our brief span of service we fulfilled our responsibilities to the state our success or failure, in whatever office we may hold, will be measured by the answers to four questions were we truly men of courage ... were we truly men of judgment ... were we truly men of integrity ... were we truly men of dedication.

Sorrow is a form of self-pity.

History will never accept difficulties as an excuse.

The New Frontier I speak of is not a set of promises it is a set of challenges. It sums up not what I intend to offer the American people, but what I intent to ask of them.

The goals of our public welfare program must be positive and constructive. The welfare program must stress the integrity and preservation of the family unit. It must contribute to the attack on dependency, juvenile delinquency, family breakdown, illegitimacy, ill health, and disability. It must reduce the incidence of these problems, prevent their occurrence and recurrence, and strengthen and protect the vulnerable in a highly competitive world.