Kennedy Quotes

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

The most powerful single force in the world today is neither Communism nor Capitalism, neither the H-bomb nor the guided missile -- it is man's eternal desire to be free and independent.

Political action is the highest responsibility of a citizen.

The problem of power is how to achieve its responsible use rather than its irresponsible and indulgent use; of how to get men of power to live for the public rather than off the public.

Integrity is the lifeblood of democracy. Deceit is a poison in its veins.

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

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.

The case for freedom, the case for our constitutional principles the case for our heritage has to be made anew in each generation. The work of freedom is never done.

The time will come when it will disgust you to look in the mirror.

Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed.

I hear it said that West Berlin is militarily untenable - and so was Bastogne, and so, in fact, was Stalingrad. Any danger spot is tenable if men - brave men - will make it so.

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

Democracy is never a final achievement. It is a call to an untiring effort.

No sane society chooses to commit national suicide.

We need men who can dream of things that never were.

This liberal doxy must be impaled upon the member of a particularly large stallion.

Stop!' I cried imploringly to my god-like mind.

Someone always needs rescuing, yet there's only one person who ever seems to understand you. It's a lot like being Lassie.

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

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

We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things. Not because they are easy, but because they are hard.

A country is as strong, really, as its citizens. And I think that mental and physical health - mental and physical vigor - go hand in hand.

Keep going don't worry about results. If you love it why does it matter?

We must never lose sight of the fact that the law has a moral foundation, and we must never fail to ask ourselves not only what the law is, but what the law should be.

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

I don't think there are any men who are faithful to their wives.

The future is not a gift: it is an achievement. Every generation helps make its own future. This is the essential challenge of the present

Jail was preferable. There they only limited you physically. In a mental ward they tampered with your soul and worldview and mind.

Any danger spot is tenable if men, brave men, will make it so.

I think 'Hail to the Chief' has a nice ring to it.

It is not our wealth that built our roads, but it is our roads that built our wealth.

For one true measure of a nation is its success in fulfilling the promise of a better life for each of its members. Let this be the measure of our nation.

History -- its what those bitter old men write.

One should always dress like a marble column.

It's hard for me to feel bad for myself because I'm doing what I love to do. I'm in a good position.

The Constitution needs allegiance and loyalty and renewal and understanding with each generation, or else it's not going to last.

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

The only routine with me is no routine at all.

I don't think you're much good, unless you're doing good to someone.

Always forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.

He tells so many lies that he convinces himself after a while that he's telling the truth. He just doesn't recognize truth or falsehood.

The most patriotic thing you can do is to take care of the environment and try to live sustainably.

I refuse to "look up." Optimism nauseates me. It is perverse. Since man's fall, his proper position in the universe has been one of misery.

No President should fear public scrutiny of his program. For from that scrutiny comes understanding; and from that understanding comes support or opposition and both are necessary.

A child miseducated is a child lost.

Each success brings with it the potential of failure and each failure brings with it the potential of success.

It is time for a new generation of leadership.

[On John F. Kennedy:] ... now he is a legend when he would have preferred to be a man.

Do we operate under a system of equal justice under law? Or is there one system for the average citizen and another for the high and mighty?