John F. Kennedy

John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy (May 29, 1917 - November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK, was the thirty-fifth President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963

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...probably the greatest concentration of talent and genius in this house except for perhaps those times when Thomas Jefferson ate alone.
And so, my fellow americans ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. 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.
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.
Change is the law of life; and those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.
Conformity is the jailer of freedom, and the enemy of growth.
For in the final analysis, our most basic common link, is that we all inhabit this small planet, we all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children's futures, and we are all mortal.
If we are strong, our strength will speak for itself. If we are weak, words will be of no help.
It is our task in our time and in our generation to hand down undiminished to those who come after us, as was handed down to us by those who went before, the natural wealth and beauty which is ours.
Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty.
Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation.
Liberty without learning is always in peril learning without liberty is always in vain.
Liberty without learning is always in peril; learning without liberty is always in vain.
Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind.
Our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings.
Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource.
The American, by nature, is optimistic. He is experimental, an inventor and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly.
The ancient Greek definition of happiness was the full use of your powers along lines of excellence.
The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie -- deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.
The great French Marshall Lyautey once asked his gardener to plant a tree. The gardener objected that the tree was slow growing and would not reach maturity for 100 years. The Marshall replied, 'In that case, there is no time to lose plant it this afternoon'
The greatest enemy of the truth is very often not the lie--delierate, contrived, and dishonest, but the myth persistent, peruasive, and unrealistic. Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.
The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.
The men who create power make an indispensable contribution to the Nations greatness, but the men who question power make a contribution just as indispensable, especially when that questioning is disinterested, for they determine whether we use power or power uses us.
The quality of American life must keep pace with the quantity of American goods. This country cannot afford to be materially rich and spiritually poor.
The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.
There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable.
Too often we...enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.
Washington is a city of Southern efficiency and Northern charm.
We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.
We choose to go to the moon. 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, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.
We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda it is a form of truth.
We must use time as a tool, not as a crutch.
We need men who can dream of things that never were.
We stand for freedom. That is our conviction for ourselves that is our only commitment to others.
We stand for freedom. That is our conviction for ourselves; that is our only commitment to others.
When we got into office, the thing that surprised me the most was that things were as bad as we'd been saying they were.

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