J

John F. Kennedy

77 quotes

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. His presidency was marked by the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Space Race, and the early stages of the Civil Rights Movement. Kennedy's speeches are among the most quoted in American political history.

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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 F. Kennedy

Freedom

All Quotes by John F. Kennedy

“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.”

— John F. Kennedy

Freedom

“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 F. Kennedy

Best

“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 F. Kennedy

Peace

“Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.”

— John F. Kennedy

Freedom

“War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.”

— John F. Kennedy

War

“Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly.”

— John F. Kennedy

Great

“Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.”

— John F. Kennedy

Forgiveness

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

— John F. Kennedy

Great

“The greater our knowledge increases the more our ignorance unfolds.”

— John F. Kennedy

Knowledge

“Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.”

— John F. Kennedy

War

“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 the success of liberty.”

— John F. Kennedy

Patriotism

“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 F. Kennedy

Alone

“Israel was not created in order to disappear - Israel will endure and flourish. It is the child of hope and the home of the brave. It can neither be broken by adversity nor demoralized by success. It carries the shield of democracy and it honors the sword of freedom.”

— John F. Kennedy

Freedom

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

— John F. Kennedy

Education

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

— John F. Kennedy

Time

“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 F. Kennedy

Future

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”

— John F. Kennedy

Leadership

“Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.”

— John F. Kennedy

Future

“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 F. Kennedy

Men

“The very word 'secrecy' is repugnant in a free and open society and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths, and to secret proceedings.”

— John F. Kennedy

Society