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John F. Kennedy Quotes - Page 9

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The American, by nature, is optimistic. He is experimental, an inventor and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly.

The American, by nature, is optimistic. He is experimental, an inventor and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly.

John F. Kennedy
Inspirational, Life, Optimistic

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

John F. Kennedy
Life, Fall, Creativity
Kennedy, John F. (1964). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1963”, p.156, Best Books on

The stories of past courage... can offer hope, they can provide inspiration. But they cannot supply courage itself. For this each man must look into his own soul.

John F. Kennedy
Motivational, Courage, Inspiration
John F. Kennedy (1964). “Profiles In Courage”

Peace need not be impracticable, and war need not be inevitable.

John F. Kennedy
War, Needs, Inevitable
American University Commencement Address, delivered 10 June 1963

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 God's work must truly be our own.

John F. Kennedy
Love, Blessing, Land
Inaugural Address, 20 Jan. 1961

There is a terrific disadvantage in not having the abrasive quality of the press applied to you daily. Even though we never like it, and even though we wish they didn't write it, and even though we disapprove, there isn't any doubt that we could not do the job at all in a free society without a very, very active press.

John F. Kennedy
Jobs, Writing, Media

Sailing has given me some of the most pleasant and exciting moments of my life. It also has taught me something of the courage, resourcefulness, and strength of men who sail the seas in ships.

John F. Kennedy
Men, Sea, Sailing
John F. Kennedy (2013). “The Letters of John F. Kennedy”, p.208, Bloomsbury Publishing

The rising tide lifts all the boats.

John F. Kennedy
Rising, Cape Cod, Tides
Remarks, Pueblo, Colo., 17 Aug. 1962. An earlier occurrence appears in the Wall Street Journal, 29 Oct. 1957: "The Rising Tide Lifts All Boats."

War and hunger and ignorance and despair know no religious barriers.

John F. Kennedy
Religious, War, Ignorance
Address to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, delivered 12 September 1960 at the Rice Hotel in Houston, TX

Lofty words cannot construct an alliance or maintain it; only concrete deeds can do that.

John F. Kennedy
Alliances, Deeds, Concrete
Kennedy, John F. (1964). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1963”, p.520, Best Books on

The ancient Greek definition of happiness was the full use of your powers along lines of excellence.

John F. Kennedy
Inspirational, Life, Greek
Kennedy, John F. (1964). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1963”, p.380, Best Books on

The true democracy, living and growing and inspiring, puts its faith in the people - faith that the people will not simply elect men who will represent their views ably and faithfully, but will also elect men who will exercise their conscientious judgment - faith that the people will not condemn those whose devotion to principle leads them to unpopular courses, but will reward courage, respect honor, and ultimately recognize right.

John F. Kennedy
Inspirational, Courage, Exercise
Selected Quotations from John F. Kennedy's Book "Profiles in Courage", www.jfklibrary.org. 1957.

Our labor unions are not narrow, self-seeking groups. They have raised wages, shortened hours, and provided supplemental benefits. Through collective bargaining and grievance procedures, they have brought justice and democracy to the shop floor.

John F. Kennedy
Self, Justice, Presidential

I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: 'I served in the United States Navy.

John F. Kennedy
Military, Pride, Men
Kennedy, John F. (1964). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1963”, p.620, Best Books on

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

John F. Kennedy
Time, Reality, Environmental
Speech to a joint session of the Dail and the Seanad, Dublin, Ireland, June 28, 1963.

No man who enters upon the office to which I have succeeded can fail to recognize how every president of the United States has placed special reliance upon his faith in God.

John F. Kennedy
Men, Office, Special
"John F. Kennedy: 1961 : containing the public messages, speeches, and statements of the president, January 20 to December 31, 1961" by John F. Kennedy, Washington: Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, 1962.

I do ask every publisher, every editor, and every newsman in the nation to reexamine his own standards, and to recognize the nature of our country's peril. In time of war, the government and the press have customarily joined in an effort based largely on self-discipline, to prevent unauthorized disclosures to the enemy. In time of "clear and present danger," the courts have held that even the privileged rights of the First Amendment must yield to the public's need for national security.

John F. Kennedy
Country, War, Mistake
Address to the American Newspaper Publishers, delivered 27 April 1961, Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York

We do not want an official state church. If ninety-nine percent of the population were Catholics, I would still be opposed to it. I do not want civil power combined with religious power. I want to make it clear that I am committed as a matter of deep personal conviction to separation.

John F. Kennedy
Religious, Atheist, Ninety Nine

We should not let our fears hold us back from pursuing our hopes.

John F. Kennedy
Hope, Wisdom, Fear

But colonialism in its harshest forms is not only the exploitation of new nations by old, of dark skins by light, or the subjugation of the poor by the rich. My Nation was once a colony, and we know what colonialism means; the exploitation and subjugation of the weak by the powerful, of the many by the few, of the governed who have given no consent to be governed, whatever their continent, their class, their color.

John F. Kennedy
Powerful, Mean, Dark
Address to the United Nations General Assembly, delivered 25 September 1961

There is only one rule by which to judge if God is near us or is far away - the rule that God's word is giving us today: everyone concerned for the hungry, the naked, the poor, for those who have vanished in police custody, for the tortured, for prisoners, for all flesh that suffers, has God close at hand. We have the ability, we have the means, and we have the capacity to eliminate hunger from the face of the earth. We need only the will.

John F. Kennedy
Mean, Hands, Giving

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.

John F. Kennedy
Patriotic, Power, Men
Remarks upon receiving an honorary degree from Amherst College, Amherst, Mass., 26 Oct. 1963

We are confronted primarily with a moral issue... whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights and equal opportunities, whether we are going to treat our fellow Americans as we want to be treated.

John F. Kennedy
Opportunity, Rights, Issues
Civil Rights Address, delivered 11 June 1963

Immigration policy should be generous; it should be fair; it should be flexible. With such a policy we can turn to the world, and to our own past, with clean hands and a clear conscience.

John F. Kennedy
Past, Hands, Immigration
President John F. Kennedy (2016). “A Nation Of Immigrants”, p.104, Pickle Partners Publishing

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.

John F. Kennedy
Inspirational, Friends, Men
Address to the Canadian Parliament, May 17, 1961.