John F. Kennedy Quotes
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No one can be certain what the future will bring. No one can say whether the time has come for an easing of the struggle. But history and our own conscience will judge us harsher if we do not now make every effort to test our hopes by action. And this is the place to begin.
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The United States has to move very fast to even stand still.
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A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers.
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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.
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Our deep spiritual confidence that this nation will survive the perils of today - which may well be with us for decades to come - compels us to invest in our nation's future, to consider and meet our obligations to our children and the numberless generations that will follow.
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But life is never easy. There is work to be done and obligations to be met - obligations to truth, to justice, and to liberty.
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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.
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And is not peace, in the last analysis, basically a matter of human rights - the right to live out our lives without fear of devastation - the right to breathe air as nature provided it - the right of future generations to a healthy existence?
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While we proceed to safeguard our national interests, let us also safeguard human interests. And the elimination of war and arms is clearly in the interest of both.
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The Secretary General, in a very real sense, is the servant of the General Assembly. Diminish his authority and you diminish the authority of the only body where all nations, regardless of power, are equal and sovereign. Until all the powerful are just, the weak will be secure only in the strength of this Assembly.
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Too often we... enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.
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If the self-discipline of the free cannot match the iron discipline of the mailed fist-in economic, political, scientific and all the other kinds of struggles as well as the military-then the peril to freedom will continue to rise.
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So let us not be petty when our cause is so great. Let us not quarrel amongst ourselves when our Nation’s future is at stake.
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As I said this morning, I am not impressed by the opportunities open to popular fronts throughout the world. I do not believe that any democrat can successfully ride that tiger. But I do believe in the necessity of great powers working together to preserve the human race, or otherwise we can be destroyed.
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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.
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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.
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The steps I have indicated tonight are aimed at avoiding that war. To sum it all up: we seek peace - but we shall not surrender. That is the central meaning of this crisis, and the meaning of your government's policy. With your help, and the help of other free men, this crisis can be surmounted. Freedom can prevail and peace can endure.
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To further the appreciation of culture among all the people, to increase respect for the creative individual, to widen participation by all the processes and fulfillments of art - this is one of the fascinating challenges of these days.
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Political sovereignty is but a mockery without the means of meeting poverty and illiteracy and disease. Self-determination is but a slogan if the future holds no hope.
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War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.
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I would say to the leaders of the Soviet Union, and to their people, that if either of our countries is to be fully secure, we need a much better weapon than the H-bomb - a weapon better than ballistic missiles or nuclear submarines - and that better weapon is peaceful cooperation.
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I think it is most appropriate that the President of the United States, whose business place is in Washington, should come to this city and participate in these rallies. Because the business of the Government is the business of the people - and the people are right here.
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Our prestige abroad, what other peoples think of us, is not of importance only to those Americans who work or travel abroad. The sign 'Yankee go home' does not apply only to our diplomats, foreign-aid specialists, and military personnel who are stationed overseas.
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For a city or a people to be truly free they must have the secure right, without economic, political or police pressure, to make their own choice and to live their own lives.