Quotes By John F. Kennedy

Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.

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

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

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

The world knows that America will never start a war. This generation of Americans has had enough of war and hate... we want to build a world of peace where the weak are secure and the strong are just.

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.

Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly.

For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.

Washington is a city of Southern efficiency and Northern charm.

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.

Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity.

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.

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

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.

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

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

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

We cannot expect that all nations will adopt like systems, for conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.

I just received the following wire from my generous Daddy; Dear Jack, Don't buy a single vote more than is necessary. I'll be damned if I'm going to pay for a landslide.

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!"

Do you realize the responsibility I carry? I'm the only person standing between Richard Nixon and the White House.

A nation which has forgotten the quality of courage which in the past has been brought to public life is not as likely to insist upon or regard that quality in its chosen leaders today - and in fact we have forgotten.

There is always inequality in life. Some men are killed in a war and some men are wounded and some men never leave the country. Life is unfair.

The human mind is our fundamental resource.

I am sorry to say that there is too much point to the wisecrack that life is extinct on other planets because their scientists were more advanced than ours.

America has tossed its cap over the wall of space.

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.

The United States has to move very fast to even stand still.

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

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.