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Aeschylus And Plato Are Remembered Today Long After The Triumphs Of Imperial Athens Are Gone. Dante Outlived The Ambitions Of Thirteenth Century Florence. Goethe Stands Serenely Above The Politics Of Germany, And I Am Certain That After The Dust Of Centuries Has Passed Over Cities, We Too Will Be Remembered Not For Victories Or Defeats In Battle Or In Politics, But For Our Contribution To The Human Spirit.

-John F. Kennedy

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Aeschylus And Plato Are

John F. Kennedy

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Aeschylus And Plato Are Remembered Today Long After The Triumphs Of Imperial Athens Are Gone. Dante Outlived The Ambitions Of Thirteenth Century Florence. Goethe Stands Serenely Above The Politics Of Germany, And I Am Certain That After The Dust Of Centuries Has Passed Over Cities, We Too Will Be Remembered Not For Victories Or Defeats In Battle Or In Politics, But For Our Contribution To The Human Spirit.

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Last Year, More Americans Went To Symphonies Than Went To Baseball Games. This May Be Viewed As An Alarming Statistic, But I Think That Both Baseball And The Country Will Endure.

For Only When Our Arms Are Sufficient Beyond Doubt Can We Be Certain Beyond Doubt That They Will Never Be Employed.

All This Will Not Be Finished In The First One Hundred Days. Nor Will It Be Finished In The First One Thousand Days . . .nor Even Perhaps In Our Lifetime On This Planet. But Let Us Begin.

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.

We Must Find Time To Stop And Thank The People Who Make A Difference In Our Lives.

The Very Word Secrecy Is Repugnant In A Free And Open Society.

I Am The Man Who Accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy To Paris, And I Have Enjoyed It.

When We Got Into Office, The Thing That Surprised Me Most Was To Find That Things Were Just As Bad As We'd Been Saying They Were.

Sure It's A Big Job; But I Don't Know Anyone Who Can Do It Better Than I Can.

If You Face A Man's Job, Find A Woman!

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. I Am Not Asking Your Newspapers To Support The Administration, But I Am Asking Your Help In The Tremendous Task Of Informing And Alerting The American People. For I Have Complete Confidence In The Response And Dedication Of Our Citizens Whenever They Are Fully Informed.

I Believe In An America Where Religious Intolerance Will Someday End... Where Every Man Has The Same Right To Attend Or Not Attend The Church Of His Choice.

The Very Word 'secrecy' Is Repugnant In A Free And Open Society. ... There Is Little Value In Ensuring The Survival Of Our Nation If Our Traditions Do Not Survive With It.

And Only The Very Courageous Will Be Able To Keep Alive The Spirit Of Individualism And Dissent Which Gave Birth To This Nation, Nourished It As An Infant, And Carried It Through Its Severest Tests Upon The Attainment Of Its Maturity.

Most Cities Are Nouns. New York's A Verb.

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 Have The Power To Make This The Best Generation Of Mankind In The History Of The World Or To Make It The Last.

There Is No Other Airport In The World Which Serves So Many People And So Many Airplanes. This Is An Extraordinary Airport. . . It Could Be Classed As One Of The Wonders Of The Modern World.

First, What Does Truth Require? It Requires Us To Face The Facts As They Are, Not To Involve Ourselves In Self-deception; To Refuse To Think Merely In Slogans. If We Are To Work For The Future Of The City, Let Us Deal With The Realities As They Actually Are, Not As They Might Have Been, And Not As We Wish They Were.

I'm Always Rather Nervous About How You Talk About Women Who Are Active In Politics, Whether They Want To Be Talked About As Women Or As Politicians.

Empowering Women

One Hundred Years Of Delay Have Passed Since President Lincoln Freed The Slaves, Yet Their Heirs, Their Grandsons, Are Not Fully Free. They Are Not Yet Freed From The Bonds Of Injustice. They Are Not Yet Freed From Social And Economic Oppression. And This Nation, For All Its Hopes And All Its Boasts, Will Not Be Fully Free Until All Its Citizens Are Free.

If Men And Women Are In Chains Anywhere In The World, Then Freedom Is Endangered Everywhere.

We In This Country, In This Generation, Areby Destiny Rather Than Choicethe Watchmen On The Walls Of World Freedom. We Ask, Therefore, That We May Be Worthy Of Our Power And Responsibility, That We May Exercise Our Strength With Wisdom And Restraint, And That We May Achieve In Our Time And For All Time The Ancient Vision Of Peace On Earth, Good Will Toward Men. That Must Always Be Our Goal, And The Righteousness Of Our Cause Must Always Underlie Our Strength. For As Was Written Long Ago: Except The Lord Keep The City, The Watchman Waketh But In Vain.

We Are Under Exercised As A Nation. We Look Instead Of Play. We Ride Instead Of Walk. Our Existence Deprives Us Of The Minimum Of Physical Activity Essential For Healthy Living.

Forgive Your Enemies, But Never Forget Their Names.

Let Both Sides Explore What Problems Unite Us Instead Of Belaboring Those Problems Which Divide Us.

I Don't Think The Intelligence Reports Are All That Hot. Some Days I Get More Out Of The New York Times.

Our Nation Is Founded On The Principal That Observance Of The Law Is The Eternal Safeguard Of Liberty And Defiance Of The Law Is The Surest Road To Tyranny.

Whatever The Political Affiliation Of Our Next President, Whatever His Views May Be On All The Issues And Problems That Rush In Upon Us, He Must Above All Be The Chief Executive In Every Sense Of The Word.

If (my Grandfather) Hadn't Left, I'd Be Working Over Here At The Albatross Company.

We Shall Be Judged More By What We Do At Home Than What We Preach Abroad.

The Time To Repair The Roof Is When The Sun Is Shining.

When I Ran For Presidency Of The United States, I Knew That This Country Faced Serious Challenges, But I Could Not Realize - Nor Could Any Man Realize Who Does Not Bear The Burdens Of This Office - How Heavy And Constant Would Be Those Burdens

The First Man-made Satellite To Orbit The Earth Was Named Sputnik. The First Living Creature In Space Was Laika. The First Rocket To The Moon Carried A Red Flag. The First Photograph Of The Far Side Of The Moon Was Made With A Soviet Camera. If A Man Orbits The Earth This Year His Name Will Be Ivan.

I Have A Nice Home, The Office Is Close By, And The Pay Is Good.

Nuclear Weapons Are So Destructive And Ballistic Missiles Are So Swift, That Any Substantially Increased Possibility Of Their Use Or Any Sudden Change In Their Deployment May Well Be Regarded As A Definite Threat To Peace.

We Should Not Let Our Fears Hold Us Back From Pursuing Our Hopes.

Every Time That We Try To Lift A Problem From Our Own Shoulders, And Shift That Problem To The Hands Of The Government, To The Same Extent We Are Sacrificing The Liberties Of Our People.

The True Democracy, Living And Growing And Inspiring, Puts Its Faith In The People - Faith That The People Will Not Simply Elect Men Who Will Represent Their Views Ably And Faithfully, But Will Also Elect Men Who Will Exercise Their Conscientious Judgment - Faith That The People Will Not Condemn Those Whose Devotion To Principle Leads Them To Unpopular Courses, But Will Reward Courage, Respect Honor, And Ultimately Recognize Right.

Anyone Who Is Honestly Seeking A Job And Can't Find It, Deserves The Attention Of The United States Government, And The People.

Everywhere Immigrants Have Enriched And Strengthened The Fabric Of American Life.

Let Us Make It Clear That We Will Never Turn Our Backs On Our Steadfast Friends In Israel, Whose Adherence To The Democratic Way Must Be Admired By All Friends Of Freedom.

Leadership And Learning Are Indispensable To Each Other.

Forbidden Fruit Tastes Sweet, But Its Aftertaste Is Bitter.

Libraries Should Be Open To All - Except The Censor.

Censorship In Books

Some Of My Colleagues Who Are Criticized Today For Lack Of Forthright Principles-or Who Are Looked Upon With Scorn As Compromising "politicians"-are Simply Engaged In The Fine Art Of Conciliating, Balancing And Interpreting The Forces And Factions Of Public Opinion, An Art Essential To Keeping Our Nation United And Enabling Our Government To Function.

I Do Not Speak For My Church On Public Matters; And The Church Does Not Speak For Me.

I See No Magic In Tax Dollars Which Are Sent To Washington And Then Returned. I Abhor The Waste And Incompetence Of Large-scale Federal Bureaucracies In This Administration As Well As In Others. I Do Not Favor State Compulsion When Voluntary Individual Effort Can Do The Job And Do It Well.

Individual Effort

Automation Does Not Need To Be Our Enemy. I Think Machines Can Make Life Easier For Men, If Men Do Not Let The Machines Dominate Them.

Aeschylus And Plato Are Remembered Today Long After The Triumphs Of Imperial Athens Are Gone. Dante Outlived The Ambitions Of Thirteenth Century Florence. Goethe Stands Serenely Above The Politics Of Germany, And I Am Certain That After The Dust Of Centuries Has Passed Over Cities, We Too Will Be Remembered Not For Victories Or Defeats In Battle Or In Politics, But For Our Contribution To The Human Spirit.

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.

And Is Not Peace, In The Last Analysis, Basically A Matter Of Human Rights -- The Right To Live Out Our Lives Without Fear Of Devastation – The Right To Breathe Air As Nature Provided It -- The Right Of Future Generations To A Healthy Existence?" (john F. Kennedy, June 10, 1963, American University Speech)

The American Labor Movement Has Consistently Demonstrated Its Devotion To The Public Interest. It Is, And Has Been, Good For All America.

Labour Movement

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.

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I Believe In An America That Is Officially Neither Catholic, Protestant, Or Jewish - Where Religious Liberty Is So Indivisible That An Act Against One Church Is Treated As An Act Against All.

Sometimes Party Loyalty Asks Too Much.

The State Is The Servant Of The Citizen, And Not His Master.

There Are Those Who Regard This History Of Past Strife And Exile As Better Forgotten. But, To Use The Phrase Of Yeats, Let Us Not Casually Reduce "that Great Past To A Trouble Of Fools." For We Need Not Feel The Bitterness Of The Past To Discover Its Meaning For The Present And The Future.

If My Church Attempted To Influence Me In A Way Which Was Improper Or Which Affected Adversely My Responsibilities As A Public Servant Sworn To Uphold The Constitution, Then I Would Reply To Them That This Was An Improper Action On Their Part. It Was One To Which I Could Not Subscribe.

I Believe In An America Where The Rights That I Have Described Are Enjoyed By All, Regardless Of Their Race Or Their Creed Or Their National Origin - Where Every Citizen Is Free To Think And Speak As He Pleases And Write And Worship As He Pleases - And Where Every Citizen Is Free To Vote As He Pleases, Without Instructions From Anyone, His Employer, The Union Leader Or His Clergyman.

I Believe In A President Whose Religious Views Are His Own Private Affair, Neither Imposed By Him Upon The Nation, Or Imposed By The Nation Upon Him As A Condition To Holding That Office.

I Believe That This Nation Should Commit Itself To Achieving The Goal, Before This Decade Is Out, Of Landing A Man On The Moon And Returning Him Safely To The Earth. No Single Space Project...will Be More Exciting, Or More Impressive To Mankind, Or More Important...and None Will Be So Difficult Or Expensive To Accomplish.

In Whatever Area In Life One May Meet The Challenges Of Courage, Whatever May Be The Sacrifices He Faces If He Follows His Conscience - The Loss Of His Friends, His Fortune, His Contentment, Even The Esteem Of His Fellow Men - Each Man Must Decide For Himself The Course He Will Follow. The Stories Of Past Courage Can Define That Ingredient - They Can Teach, They Can Offer Hope, They Can Provide Inspiration. But They Cannot Supply Courage Itself. For This Each Man Must Look Into His Own Soul.

We Dare Not Forget That We Are The Heirs Of That First Revolution.

The Great Enemy Of The Truth Is Not The Lie, Deliberate, Contrived And Dishonest But The Myth Persistent, Persuasive And Unrealistic.

We Are Tied To The Ocean. And When We Go Back To The Sea, Whether It Is To Sail Or To Watch - We Are Going Back From Whence We Came.

Peace Is A Daily, A Weekly, A Monthly Process, Gradually Changing Opinions, Slowly Eroding Old Barriers, Quietly Building New Structures.

Courage--judgment--integrity--dedication--these Are The Historic Qualities Of The Bay Colony And The Bay State....and These Are The Qualities Which, With God's Help, This Son Of Massachusetts Hopes Will Characterize Our Government's Conduct In The Four Stormy Years That Lie Ahead.

Wealth Is The Means, And People Are The Ends. All Our Material Riches Will Avail Us Little If We Do Not Use Them To Expand The Opportunities Of Our People.

War And Hunger And Ignorance And Despair Know No Religious Barriers.

We Must Recognize That Every Nation Determines Its Policies In Terms Of Its Own Interests.

My Call Is Not To Those Who Believe They Belong To The Past. My Call Is To Those Who Believe In The Future.

And This Nation, For All Its Hopes And All Its Boasts, Will Not Be Fully Free Until All Its Citizens Are Free.

We Cannot Reform The World.... Uncle Sugar Is As Dangerous A Role For Us To Play As Uncle Shylock.

[high Income Tax Rates] Not Only Check Consumption But Discourage Investment And Encourage...the Avoidance Of Taxes [rather] Than The Production Of Goods.[...]our Present Tax System...reduces The Financial Incentives For Personal Effort, Investment, And Risk-taking.

The Processes Of Growth Are Gradual, Bearing Fruit In A Decade, Not A Day.

Justice Delayed Is Democracy Denied.

The Weapons Of War Must Be Abolished Before They Abolish Us.

Nuclear Disarmament

For In A Democracy, Every Citizen, Regardless Of His Interest In Politics, "hold Office"; Every One Of Us Is In A Position Of Responsibility; And, In The Final Analysis, The Kind Of Government We Get Depends Upon How We Fulfill Those Responsibilities. We, The People, Are The Boss, And We Will Get The Kind Of Political Leadership, Be It Good Or Bad, That We Demand And Deserve.

When I Was Growing Up I Had Three Wishes. I Wanted To Be A Lindbergh-type Hero, Learn Chinese, And Become A Member Of The Algonquin Round Table.

The Problems With This World Cannot Possibly Be Solved By Sceptics Or Cynics Whose Horizons Are Limited By The Obvious Realities. We Need People Who Can Dream Of Things That Never Were.

We Want To Be First; Not First If, Not First But; But First!

O God, Thy Sea Is So Great And My Boat Is So Small.

Will Rogers Once Said It Is Not The Original Investment In A Congressman That Counts; It Is The Upkeep.

The Federal Government Is The People And The Budget Is A Reflection Of Their Need.

You're In There With Me. Personally.

Probably The Greatest Concentration Of Talent And Genius In This House Except For Perhaps Those Times When Thomas Jefferson Ate Alone.

I Was Never Accepted Into Certain Parts Of New England Society Because My Grandfather Was An Irish Barkeep.

Every President Has Taken Comfort And Courage When Told...that The Lord "will Be With Thee. He Will Not Fail Thee Nor Forsake Thee. Fear Not-neither Be Thou Dismayed."

The Basis Of Effective Government Is Public Confidence, And That Confidence Is Endangered When Ethical Standards Falter Or Appear To Falter.

Ethical Standards

We Have All Seen These Circus Elephants Complete With Tusks, Ivory In Their Head And Thick Skins, Who Move Around The Circus Ring And Grab The Tail Of The Elephant Ahead Of Them.

But Goethe Tells Us In His Greatest Poem That Faust Lost The Liberty Of His Soul When He Said To The Passing Moment: "stay, Thou Art So Fair." And Our Liberty, Too, Is Endangered If We Pause For The Passing Moment, If We Rest On Our Achievements, If We Resist The Pace Of Progress. Change Is The Law Of Life. And Those Who Look Only To The Past Are Certain To Miss The Future.

We Must Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Or They Will Abolish Us.

Nuclear Weapons

We Are Opposed Around The World By A Monolithic And Ruthless Conspiracy That Relies Primarily On Covert Means For Expanding Its Sphere Of Influence — On Infiltration Instead Of Invasion, On Subversion Instead Of Elections, On Intimidation Instead Of Free Choice, On Guerrillas By Night Instead Of Armies By Day

And So It Is That I Carry With Me From This State To That High And Lonely Office To Which I Now Succeed More Than Fond Memories And Fast Friendships. The Enduring Qualities Of Massachusetts - The Common Threads Woven By The Pilgrim And The Puritan, The Fisherman And The Farmer, The Yankee And The Immigrant - Will Not Be And Could Not Be Forgotten In The Nations Executive Mansion. They Are An Indelible Part Of My Life, My Convictions, My View Of The Past, My Hopes For The Future.

The Goal Of Education Is The Advancement Of Knowledge And The Dissemination Of Truth.

While We Shall Never Weary In The Defense Of Freedom, Neither Shall We Ever Abandon The Pursuit Of Peace.

There Is No Sense In Agreeing Or Desiring That The United States Take An Affirmative Position In Outer Space, Unless We Are Prepared To Do The Work And Bear The Burdens To Make It Successful.

If I Don't Have A Woman Every Three Days Or So I Get A Terrible Headache.

Let Us Not Despair But Act. Let Us Not Seek The Republican Answer Or The Democratic Answer But The Right Answer. Let Us Not Seek To Fix The Blame For The Past - Let Us Accept Our Own Responsibility For The Future.

We Can Say With Some Assurance That, Although Children May Be The Victims Of Fate, They Will Not Be The Victims Of Our Neglect.

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.

You Never Know What's Hit You. A Gunshot Is The Perfect Way.

The Poet And The Politician Have This In Common: Their Greatness Depends On The Courage With Which They Face The Challenges Of Life.

America Has Tossed Its Cap Over The Wall Of Space.

The Mere Absence Of War Is Not Peace.

Only In The Case Of The Negro Has The Melting Pot Failed To Bring A Minority Into The Full Stream Of American Life.

The Tax On Capital Gains Directly Affects Investment Decisions, The Mobility And Flow Of Risk Capital From Static To More Dynamic Situations, The Ease Or Difficulty Experienced By New Ventures In Obtaining Capital, And Thereby The Strength And Potential For Growth Of The Economy.

But I Think The American People Expect More From Us Than Cries Of Indignation And Attack. The Times Are Too Grave, The Challenge Too Urgent, And The Stakes Too High To Permit The Customary Passions Of Political Debate. We Are Not Here To Curse The Darkness, But To Light The Candle That Can Guide Us Through That Darkness To A Safe And Sane Future. As Winston Churchill Said On Taking Office Some Twenty Years Ago: If We Open A Quarrel Between The Present And The Past, We Shall Be In Danger Of Losing The Future.

Our Responsibility Is One Of Decision, For To Govern Is To Choose.

Many Years Ago The Great British Explorer George Mallory, Who Was To Die On Mount Everest, Was Asked Why Did He Want To Climb It. He Said Because It Is There. Well, Space Is There, And Were Going To Climb It, And The Moon And The Planets Are There, And New Hopes For Knowledge And Peace Are There.

I Look Forward To An America Which Will Reward Achievement In The Arts As We Reward Achievement In Business Or Statecraft. I Look Forward To An America Which Will Steadily Raise The Standards Of Artistic Accomplishment And Which Will Steadily Enlarge Cultural Opportunities For All Of Our Citizens. And I Look Forward To An America Which Commands Respect Throughout The World Not Only For Its Strength But For Its Civilization As Well.

Political Sovereignty Is But A Mockery Without The Means Of Meeting Poverty And Illiteracy And Disease. Self-determination Is But A Slogan If The Future Holds No Hope.

Those Whom Nature Hath So Joined Together, Let No Man Put Asunder

Now, As Never Before, Hundreds Of Millions Of Men And Women-who Had Formerly Believed That Stoic Resignation In The Face Of Hunger And Disease And Darkness Was The Best One Could Could Do-have Come Alive With A New Sense That The Means Are At Hand With Which To Make For Themselves A Better Life.

When Written In Chinese, The Word 'crisis' Is Composed Of Two Characters. One Represents Danger And The Other Represents Opportunity.

So Long As Freedom From Hunger Is Only Half Achieved, So Long As Two Thirds Of The Nations Have Food Deficits, No Citizen, No Nation Can Afford To Be Satisfied. We Have The Ability, As Members Of The Human Race, We Have The Means, We Have The Capacity To Eliminate Hunger From The Face Of The Earth In Our Lifetime. We Only Need The Will.

The Great Enemy Of The Truth Is Very Often Not The Lie, Deliberate, Contrived And Dishonest, But The Myth, Persistent, Persuasive And Unrealistic.

We Must Start Now To Provide Additional Stimulus To The Modernization Of American Industrial Plants I Shall Propose To The Congress A New Tax Incentive For Businesses To Expand Their Normal Investment In Plant And Equipment.

An Across-the-board, Top-to-bottom Cut In Personal And Corporate Income Taxes ... To Expand The Incentives And Opportunities Of Private Expenditures.

Here On Earth, God's Work Must Surely Be Our Own.

I Believe In An America That Is Officially Neither Catholic, Protestant Nor Jewish; Where No Public Official Either Requests Or Accepts Instructions On Public Policy From The Pope, The National Council Of Churches Or Any Other Ecclesiastical Source; Where No Religious Body Seeks To Impose Its Will Directly Or Indirectly Upon The General Populace Or The Public Acts Of Its Officials; And Where Religious Liberty Is So Indivisible That An Act Against One Church Is Treated As An Act Against All.

If There Is One Path Above All Others To War, It Is The Path Of Weakness And Disunity.

Anyone Who Can Solve The Problems Of Water Will Be Worthy Of Two Nobel Prizes - One For Peace And One For Science.

We Don't Want To Be Like The Leader In The French Revolution Who Said There Go My People, I Must Find Out Where They Are Going So I Can Lead Them.

For If Freedom And Communism Were To Compete For Mans Allegiance In A World At Peace, I Would Look To The Future With Ever Increasing Confidence.

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.

An Economy Hampered By Restrictive Tax Rates Will Never Produce Enough Jobs Or Enough Profits

Our Progress As A Nation Can Be No Swifter Than Our Progress In Education. Our Requirements For World Leadership, Our Hopes For Economic Growth, And The Demands Of Citizenship Itself In An Era Such As This All Require The Maximum Development Of Every Young American's Capacity. The Human Mind Is Our Fundamental Resource.

Our Way Of Life Is Under Attack. Those Who Make Themselves Our Enemy Are Advancing Around The Globe. The Survival Of Our Friends Is In Danger. And Yet No War Has Been Declared, No Borders Have Been Crossed By Marching Troops, No Missiles Have Been Fired.

For I Can Assure You That We Love Our Country, Not For What It Was, Though It Has Always Been Great - Not For What It Is, Though Of This We Are Deeply Proud - But For What It Someday Can, And, Through The Efforts Of Us All, Someday Will Be.

Someone Always Needs Rescuing, Yet There's Only One Person Who Ever Seems To Understand You. It's A Lot Like Being Lassie.

Our Progress As A Nation Can Be No Swifter Than Our Progress In Education. The Human Mind Is Our Fundamental Resource.

When Asked What I Am Most Proud Of, I Stick Out My Chest, Hold My Head High And State Proudly, 'i Served In The United States Navy!'

But Because I Am A Catholic, And No Catholic Has Ever Been Elected President, The Real Issues In This Campaign Have Been Obscured - Perhaps Deliberately, In Some Quarters Less Responsible Than This. So It Is Apparently Necessary For Me To State Once Again Not What Kind Of Church I Believe In - For That Should Be Important Only To Me - But What Kind Of America I Believe In.

Our Privileges Can Be No Greater Than Our Obligations. The Protection Of Our Rights Can Endure No Longer Than The Performance Of Our Responsibilities.

As Every Past Generation Has Had To Disenthrall Itself From An Inheritance Of Truisms And Stereotypes, So In Our Own Time We Must Move On From The Reassuring Repetition Of Stale Phrases To A New, Difficult, But Essential Confrontation With Reality. For The Great Enemy Of Truth Is Very Often Not The Lie-deliberate, Contrived And Dishonest-but The Myth-persistent, Persuasive And Unrealistic. Mythology Distracts Us Everywhere.

Sailing Has Given Me Some Of The Most Pleasant And Exciting Moments Of My Life. It Also Has Taught Me Something Of The Courage, Resourcefulness, And Strength Of Men Who Sail The Seas In Ships.

We Will Not Prematurely Or Unnecessarily Risk The Costs Of A Worldwide Nuclear War In Which Even The Fruits Of Victory Would Be Ashes In Our Mouth - But Neither Shall We Shrink From That Risk Any Time It Must Be Faced.

Abroad, The Balance Of Power Is Shifting. There Are New And More Terrible Weapons - New And Uncertain Nations - New Pressures Of Population And Deprivation.

Immigration Policy Should Be Generous; It Should Be Fair; It Should Be Flexible. With Such A Policy We Can Turn To The World, And To Our Own Past, With Clean Hands And A Clear Conscience.

Peace Does Not Rest In Charters And Covenants Alone. It Lies In The Hearts And Minds Of The People.

The Courage Of Life Is Often A Less Dramatic Spectacle Than The Courage Of A Final Moment; But It Is No Less A Magnificent Mixture Of Triumph And Tragedy.

Of All The Multitudes Who Throughout History Have Spoken For Human Dignity In Times Of Great Suffering And Loss, No Voice Is More Compelling Than That Of Anne Frank.

Success Has Many Fathers.

Mr. Nixon Has, In The Last Seven Days, Called Me An Economic Ignoramus, A Pied Piper, And All The Rest. I've Just Confined Myself To Calling Him A Republican. But He Says That Is Getting Low.

A Nation Reveals Itself Not Only By The Men It Produces But Also By The Men It Honors, The Men It Remembers.

For A Subject Worked And Reworked So Often In Novels, Motion Pictures, And Television, American Indians Remain Probably The Least Understood And Most Misunderstood Americans Of Us All.

Our Practical Choice Is Not Between A Tax-cut Deficit And A Budgetary Surplus. It Is Between Two Kinds Of Deficits: A Chronic Deficit Of Inertia, As The Unwanted Result Of Inadequate Revenues And A Restricted Economy; Or A Temporary Deficit Of Transition, Resulting From A Tax Cut Designed To Boost The Economy, Increase Tax Revenues, And Achieve -- And I Believe This Can Be Done -- A Budget Surplus. The First Type Of Deficit Is A Sign Of Waste And Weakness; The Second Reflects An Investment In The Future.

We Must Live Our Lives In Such A Way That Our Children, And Their Children After Them, Will Form A Natural And Lasting Commitment To The Vigorous Life. Only In This Way Can We Be Assured That The Spirit And Strength Of America Will Be Constantly Replenished.

The Great Enemy Of Truth Is Very Often Not The Lie--deliberate, Contrived And Dishonest--but The Myth--persistent, Persuasive And Unrealistic. Too Often We Hold Fast To The Cliches Of Our Forebears. We Subject All Facts To A Prefabricated Set Of Interpretations. We Enjoy The Comfort Of Opinion Without The Discomfort Of Thought.

There Is Only One Rule By Which To Judge If God Is Near Us Or Is Far Away - The Rule That God's Word Is Giving Us Today: Everyone Concerned For The Hungry, The Naked, The Poor, For Those Who Have Vanished In Police Custody, For The Tortured, For Prisoners, For All Flesh That Suffers, Has God Close At Hand. We Have The Ability, We Have The Means, And We Have The Capacity To Eliminate Hunger From The Face Of The Earth. We Need Only The Will.

Change Is The Law Of Life. And Those Who Look Only To The Past Or Present Are Certain To Miss The Future.

Those Who Foolishly Sought Power By Riding The Back Of The Tiger Ended Up Inside

To Each Of Us Is Entrusted The Heavy Responsibility Of Guiding The Affairs Of A Democratic Nation Founded On Christian Ideals.

When Things Don't Go Well They Like To Blame Presidents; And That's Something That Presidents Are Paid For.

As Science, Of Necessity, Becomes More Involved With Itself, So Also, Of Necessity, It Becomes More International. I Am Impressed To Know That Of The 670 Members Of This Academy

Malthus Argued A Century And A Half Ago That Man, By Using Up All His Available Resources, Would Forever Press On The Limits Of Subsistence, Thus Condemning Humanity To An Indefinite Future Of Misery And Poverty. We Can Now Begin To Hope And, I Believe, Know That Malthus Was Expressing Not A Law Of Nature, But Merely The Limitation Then Of Scientific And Social Wisdom. The Truth Or Falsity Of His Prediction Will Depend Now, With The Tools We Have, On Our Own Actions, Now And In The Years To Come.

There Is Nothing, I Think, More Unfortunate Than To Have Soft, Chubby, Fat-looking Children Who Go To Watch Their School Play Basketball Every Saturday And Regard That As Their Weeks Exercise.

Now We Have A Problem In Making Our Power Credible, And Vietnam Is The Place.

Now Is The Time...for This Nation To Take A Clearly Leading Role In Space Achievement, Which In Many Ways May Hold The Key To Our Future On Earth.

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 Of The Nation.

The Guiding Principle Of This Nation Has Been, Is Now, And Ever Shall Be In God We Trust.

Guiding Principles

But If The Life Will Not Be Easy, It Will Be Rich And Satisfying. For Every Young American Who Participates In The Peace Corps-who Works In A Foreign Land-will Know That He Or She Is Sharing In The Great Common Task Of Bringing To Man That Decent Way Of Life Which Is The Foundation Of Freedom And A Condition Of Peace.

The Greater Our Knowledge Increases The More Our Ignorance Unfolds.

The Leadership Of The American Legion Has Not Had A Constructive Thought For The Benefit Of This Country Since 1918.

Those Who Dare To Fail Miserably Can Achieve Greatly.

The Men Who Create Power Make An Indispensable Contribution To The Nation's Greatness. But The Men Who Question Power Make A Contribution Just As Indispensable For They Determine Whether We Use Power Or Power Uses Us.

Harry Truman Once Said, 'there Are 14 Or 15 Million Americans Who Have The Resources To Have Representatives In Washington To Protect Their Interests, And That The Interests Of The Great Mass Of The Other People - The 150 Or 160 Million - Is The Responsibility Of The President Of The United States, And I Propose To Fulfill It.'

If Art Is To Nourish The Roots Of Our Culture, Society Must Set The Artist Free To Follow His Vision Wherever It Takes Him.

Science Contributes To Our Culture In Many Ways, As A Creative Intellectual Activity In Its Own Right, As The Light Which Has Served To Illuminate Man's Place In The Universe, And As The Source Of Understanding Of Man's Own Nature.

It Is With Great Satisfaction That I Have Signed Into Law The Social Security Amendments Of 1961. They Represent An Additional Step Toward Eliminating Many Of The Hardships Resulting From Old Age, Disability, Or The Death Of The Family Wage-earner. A Nation's Strength Lies In The Well-being Of Its People. The Social Security Program Plays An Important Part In Providing For Families, Children, And Older Persons In Time Of Stress, But It Cannot Remain Static. Changes In Our Population, In Our Working Habits, And In Our Standard Of Living Require Constant Revision.

All Of Us In The Senate Live In An Iron Lung-the Iron Lung Of Politics, And It Is No Easy Task To Emerge From That Rarified Atmosphere In Order To Breathe The Same Fresh Air Our Constituents Breathe.

I Do Ask Every Publisher, Every Editor, And Every Newsman In The Nation To Reexamine His Own Standards, And To Recognize The Nature Of Our Country's Peril. In Time Of War, The Government And The Press Have Customarily Joined In An Effort Based Largely On Self-discipline, To Prevent Unauthorized Disclosures To The Enemy. In Time Of "clear And Present Danger," The Courts Have Held That Even The Privileged Rights Of The First Amendment Must Yield To The Public's Need For National Security.

I Also Want To Take Cognizance Of The Fact That This Flight Was Made Out In The Open With All The Possibilities Of Failure, Which Would Have Been Damaging To Our Country's Prestige. Because Great Risks Were Taken In That Regard, It Seems To Me That We Have Some Right To Claim That This Open Society Of Ours Which Risked Much, Gained Much.

Every Dollar Released From Taxation That Is Spared Or Invested Will Help Create A New Job And A New Salary.

A Child Miseducated Is A Child Lost.

Our Task Is Not To Fix Blame For The Past, But To Fix The Course For The Future.

One Person Can Make A Difference, And Everyone Should Try.

We Can Have Faith In The Future Only If We Have Faith In Ourselves.

There Is A Connection, Hard To Explain Logically But Easy To Feel, Between Achievement In Public Life And Progress In The Arts.

Diplomacy And Defense Are Not Substitutes For One Another. Either Alone Would Fail.

So, Let Us Not Be Blind To Our Differences - But Let Us Also Direct Attention To Our Common Interests And To The Means By Which Those Differences Can Be Resolved.

By The Age Of Six The Average Child Will Have Completed The Basic American Education.... From Television, The Child Will Have Learned How To Pick A Lock, Commit A Fairly Elaborate Bank Holdup, Prevent Wetness All Day Long, Get The Laundry Twice As White, And Kill People With A Variety Of Sophisticated Armaments.

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.

My Fellow Americans, Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You, Ask What You Can Do For Your Country.

Few Nations Do More Than The United States To Assist Their Least Fortunate Citizens-to Make Certain That No Child, No Elderly Or Handicapped Citizen, No Family In Any Circumstances In Any State, Is Left Without The Essential Needs For A Decent And Healthy Existence. In Too Few Nations, I Might Add, Are The People Aware Of The Progressive Strides This Country Has Taken In Demonstrating The Humanitarian Side Of Freedom. Our Record Is A Proud One-and It Sharply Refutes Those Who Accuse Us Of Thinking Only In The Materialistic Terms Of Cash Registers And Calculating Machines.

It Is Time For A New Generation Of Leadership, To Cope With New Problems And New Opportunities. For There Is A New World To Be Won.

We Prefer World Law In The Age Of Self-determination To World War In The Age Of Mass Extermination.

If We Fail To Encourage Physical Development And Prowess, We Will Undermine Our Capcity For Thought, For Work, And For Use Of Those Skills Vital To An Expanding And Complex America.

Irrational Barriers And Ancient Prejudices Fall Quickly When The Question Of Survival Itself Is At Stake.

Freedom Has Many Difficulties And Democracy Is Not Perfect, But We Have Never Had To Put Up A Wall To Keep Our People In.

I Am The One Person Who Can Truthfully Say, I Got My Job Through The New York Times.

Politics Is A Jungle-torn Between Doing The Right Thing And Staying In Office.

The Torch Has Been Passed To A New Generation Of Americans, Born In This Century... 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.

The Only Unchangable Certainty In Life Is That Nothing Is Unchangable Or Certain.

Certainty In Life

Je Me Sens Vraiment Entre Amis. (i Feel That I Am Truly Among Friends.)

A Rising Tide (in The Economy) Lifts All Boats.

The Science Of Weapons And War Has Made Us All One World And One Human Race With One Common Destiny.

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Gaston Bachelard

Aristotle Onassis

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