John F. Kennedy Quotes
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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.
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It cannot be surprising that, as resistance within Cuba grows, refugees have been using whatever means are available to return and support their countrymen in the continuing struggle for freedom. Where people are denied the right of choice, recourse to such struggle is the only means of achieving their liberties.
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The peace-keeping machinery of the United Nations cannot work without the help of the smaller nations, nations whose forces threaten no one and whose forces can thus help create a world in which no nation is threatened. Great powers have their responsibilities and their burdens, but the smaller nations of the world must fulfill their obligations as well.
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Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was 'civis Romanus sum.' Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is 'Ich bin ein Berliner.'
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If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.
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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.
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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.
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The truth doesn't die. The desire for liberty cannot be fully suppressed.
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My call is not to those who believe they belong to the past. My call is to those who believe in the future.
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Today, every inhabitant of this planet must contemplate the day when this planet may no longer be habitable. Every man, woman and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by accident, or miscalculation, or by madness. The weapons of war must be abolished before they abolish us.
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Communism has never come to power in a country that was not disrupted by war or corruption, or both.
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I can assure you that every degree of mind and spirit that I possess will be devoted to the long-range interests of the United States and to the cause of freedom around the world.
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Khrushchev reminds me of the tiger hunter who has picked a place on the wall to hang the tiger's skin long before he has caught the tiger. This tiger has other ideas.
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We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.
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I hope that your Government will refrain from any action which would widen or deepen this already grave crisis and that we can agree to resume the path of peaceful negotiation.
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I want to drink a cup of tea to all those Kennedys who went and all those Kennedys who stayed.
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The President of a great democracy such as ours, and the editors of great newspapers such as yours, owe a common obligation to the people: an obligation to present the facts, to present them with candor, and to present them in perspective.
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It's only when they join together in a forward movement that this country moves ahead...
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Today we are committed to a worldwide struggle to promote and protect the rights of all who wish to be free. And when Americans are sent to Vietnam or West Berlin, we do not ask for whites only. It ought to be possible, therefore, for American students of any color to attend any public institution they select without having to be backed up by troops.
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We would like to live as we once lived, but history will not permit it.
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And as Americans know from our history on our own old frontier, gun battles are caused by outlaws, and not by officers of the peace.
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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.
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I think 'Hail to the Chief' has a nice ring to it.
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My brother Bob doesn't want to be in government - he promised Dad he'd go straight.