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John Fitzgerald Kennedy

35th President of the United States; established the Peace Corps; assassinated in Dallas (1917-1963)

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Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind... War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Our task is not to fix the blame for the past, but to fix the course for the future.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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I am the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris, and I have enjoyed it.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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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.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, 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.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Like dealing with Dad-all give and no take. (On negotiating with Soviet Premier Nikita S Khrushchev)

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Modern cynics and skeptics ... see no harm in paying those to whom they entrust the minds of their children a smaller wage than is paid to those to whom they entrust the care of their plumbing.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Mothers all want their sons to grow up to be president, but they don't want them to become politicians in the process.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause who at best, if he wins, knows the thrills of high achievement, and, if he fails, at least fails daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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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.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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We would like to live as we once lived, but history will not permit it.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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When asked about his favorite song, I think 'Hail to the Chief' has a nice ring to it.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin. And therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words Ich bin ein Berliner

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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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.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Too often we... enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Unconditional war can no longer lead to unconditional victory. It can no longer serve to settle disputes. It can no longer be of concern to great powers alone. For a nuclear disaster, spread by winds and waters and fear, could well engulf the great and the small, the rich and the poor, the committed and the uncommitted alike. Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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You never know what's hit you. A gunshot is the perfect way. (When asked how he would choose to die)

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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History is a relentless master. It has no present, only the past rushing into the future. To try to hold fast is to be swept aside.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Let us welcome controversial books and controversial authors.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world - or to make it the last.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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The human mind is our fundamental resource.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today, at home and around the world

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Leadership and learning are indispensible to each other.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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A child miseducated is a child lost.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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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.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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If I had to live my life over again, I would have a different father, a different wife and a different religion.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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My father always told me that all businessmen were sons of bitches, but I never believed it till now. (On steel industry executives who increased prices)

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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The freedom of the city is not negotiable. We cannot negotiate with those who say, What's mine is mine and what's yours is negotiable.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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There are three things which are real God, human folly, and laughter. The first two are beyond our comprehension. So we must do what we can with the third.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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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 his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House-with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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There are many people in the world who really don't understand-or say they don't-what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world. ... Let them come to Berlin

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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When at some future date the high court of history sits in judgment on each one of us-recording whether in our brief span of service we fulfilled our responsibilities to the state-our success or failure, in whatever office we may hold, will be measured by the answers to four questions-were we truly men of courage ... were we truly men of judgment ... were we truly men of integrity ... were we truly men of dedication

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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A rising tide lifts all boats.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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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.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Washington D.C. is a city of Southern efficiency and Northern charm.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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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. (To Canadian Parliament)

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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The full use of your powers along lines of excellence. - definition of happiness by John F. Kennedy.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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To exclude from positions of trust and command all those below the age of 44 would have kept Jefferson from writing the Declaration of Independence, Washington from commanding the Continental Army, Madison from fathering the Constitution, Hamilton from serving as secretary of the treasury, Clay from being elected speaker of the House and Christopher Columbus from discovering America.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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We must use time as a tool, not as a couch.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty, and all forms of human life.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violen trevolution inevitable.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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A man does what he must-in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures-and that is the basis of all human morality.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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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.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Let us resolve to be masters, not the victims, of our history, controlling our own destiny without giving way to blind suspicions and emotions.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required, not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Above all, we are coming to understand that the arts incarnate the creativity of a free people. When the creative impulse cannot flourish, when it cannot freely select its methods and objects, when it is deprived of spontaneity, then society severs the root of art.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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All this will not be finished in the first hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first thousand days, nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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I don't think the intelligence reports are all that hot. Some days I get more out of the New York Times.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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I look forward to an America which will not be afraid of grace and beauty.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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I want to emphasize in the great concentration which we now place upon scientists and engineers how much we still need the men and women educated in the liberal tradition, willing to take the long look, undisturbed by prejudices and slogans of the moment, who attempt to make an honest judgment on difficult events.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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If anyone is crazy enough to want to kill a president of the United States, he can do it. All he must be prepared to do is give his life for the president's.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Irrational barriers and ancient prejudices fall quickly when the question of survival itself is at stake.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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It might be said now that I have the best of both worlds. A Harvard education and a Yale degree.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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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.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Let's not talk so much about vice. I'm against vice in all forms.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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My brother Bob doesn't want to be in government -- he promised Dad he'd go straight.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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My imagination makes me human and makes me a fool it gives me all the world and exiles me from it.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundemental resource.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Perfect valour consists in doing without witnesses that which we would be capable of doing before everyone.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Someday they will name a big airport after me, until then I'll just eat this lovely sandwich.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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The courage of life is often a less dramatic spectacle than the courage of a final moment but it is no less than a magnificent mixture of triumph and tragedy.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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The new frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises-it is a set of challenges. It sums up not what I intend to offer the American people, but what I intend to ask of them. It appeals to their pride, not their pocketbook-it holds out the promise of more sacrifice instead of more security.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are. ... 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. (Announcing blockade of Cuba)

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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We stand today on the edge of a new frontier-the frontier of the 1960s-a frontier of unknown opportunities and perils-a frontier of unfulfilled hopes and threats.

– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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