Background Image

...

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.

-John F. Kennedy

...

Please Wait....
Translating....

But Because I Am

John F. Kennedy

...

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.

Views: 2

Topic

More From John F. Kennedy

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

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.

The Mere Absence Of War Is Not Peace.

A Tax Cut Means Higher Family Income And Higher Business Profits And A Balanced Federal Budget.

I Know There Is A God - I See The Storm Coming And I See His Hand In It - If He Has A Place Then I Am Ready - We See The Hand.

With All Of The History Of War, And The Human Race's History Unfortunately Has Been A Good Deal More War Than Peace, With Nuclear Weapons Distributed All Through The World, And Available, And The Strong Reluctance Of Any People To Accept Defeat, I See The Possibility In The 1970's Of The President Of The United States Having To Face A World In Which 15 Or 20 Or 25 Nations May Have These Weapons.

This Increase In The Life Span And In The Number Of Our Senior Citizens Presents This Nation With Increased Opportunities: The Opportunity To Draw Upon Their Skill And Sagacityand The Opportunity To Provide The Respect And Recognition They Have Earned. It Is Not Enough For A Great Nation Merely To Have Added New Years To Lifeour Objective Must Also Be To Add New Life To Those Years.

I Am Fully Aware Of The Fact That The Democratic Party, By Nominating Someone Of My Faith, Has Taken On What Many Regard As A New And Hazardous Risk.

Each Increase Of Tension Has Produced An Increase Of Arms; Each Increase Of Arms Has Produced An Increase Of Tension.

What Church I Go To On Sunday, What Dogma Of The Catholic Church I Believe In, Is My Business; And Whatever Faith Any Other American Has Is His Business.

Every Inhabitant Of This Planet Must Contemplate The Day When This Planet May No Longer Be Habitable .. The Weapons Of War Must Be Abolished Before They Abolish Us.

Nuclear Disarmament

Nuclear Proliferation

The Voters Selected Us, In Short, Because They Had Confidence In Our Judgement And Our Ability To Exercise That Judgement From A Position Where We Could Determine What Were Their Own Best Interest, As A Part Of The Nation's Interest.

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.

Third, And Finally, The Educated Citizen Has An Obligation To Uphold The Law. This Is The Obligation Of Every Citizen In A Free And Peaceful Society--but The Educated Citizen Has A Special Responsibility By The Virtue Of His Greater Understanding. For Whether He Has Ever Studied History Or Current Events, Ethics Or Civics, The Rules Of A Profession Or The Tools Of A Trade, He Knows That Only A Respect For The Law Makes It Possible For Free Men To Dwell Together In Peace And Progress.

The Rights Of Man Come Not From The Generosity Of The State But From The Hand Of God.

Richard Cromwell Was Not Fit To Wear The Mantle Of His Uncle.

The Life Of The Arts Is Far From An Interruption, A Distraction, In The Life Of A Nation, Is Close To The Center Of A Nation's Purpose-and Is A Test Of The Quality Of A Nations' Civilization.

Knowledge Of The Oceans Is More Than A Matter Of Curiosity. Our Very Survival May Hinge Upon It.

Our Labor Unions Are Not Narrow, Self-seeking Groups. They Have Raised Wages, Shortened Hours, And Provided Supplemental Benefits. Through Collective Bargaining And Grievance Procedures, They Have Brought Justice And Democracy To The Shop Floor.

While We Cannot Guarantee That We Shall One Day Be First, We Can Guarantee That Any Failure To Make This Effort Will Make Us Last.

Guarantees That

The Federal Government's Most Useful Role Is Not To Rush Into A Program Of Excessive Increases In Public Expenditures, But To Expand The Incentives And Opportunities For Private Expenditures.

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.

In America There Must Be Only Citizens, Not Divided By Grade, First And Second, But Citizens, East, West, North, And South.

I Am Not So Much Concerned With The Right Of Everyone To Say Anything He Pleases As I Am About Our Need As A Self-governing People To Hear Everything Relevant.

Acting On Our Own, By Ourselves, We Cannot Establish Justice Throughout The World, But Joined With Other Free Nations, We Can ... Assist The Developing Nations To Throw Off The Yoke Of Poverty.

But However Close We Sometimes Seem To That Dark And Final Abyss, Let No Man Of Peace And Freedom Despair. For He Does Not Stand Alone.

It Is No Contradiction - The Most Important Single Thing We Can Do To Stimulate Investment In Today's Economy Is To Raise Consumption By Major Reduction Ofindividualincometaxrates.

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

Peace Need Not Be Impracticable, And War Need Not Be Inevitable.

If A Free Society Cannot Help The Many Who Are Poor, It Cannot Save The Few Who Are Rich.

No Treaty, However Much It May Be To The Advantage Of All, However Tightly It May Be Worded, Can Provide Absolute Security Against The Risks Of Deception And Evasion. But It Can, If It Is Sufficiently Effective In Its Enforcement And If It Is Sufficiently In The Interests Of Its Signers, Offer Far More Security And Far Fewer Risks Than An Unabated, Uncontrolled, Unpredictable Arms Race.

I Think The Success Of Any School Can Be Measured By The Contribution The Alumni Make To Our National Life.

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

Certainty In Life

I Am Glad That Congress Has Recently Authorized $800,000 To State Welfare Agencies To Expand Their Day-care Services During The Remainder Of This Fiscal Year. But We Need Much More. We Need The $8 Million In The 1965 Budget For The Department Of Health, Education, And Welfare Allocated To This Purpose.

Health Education

No Man Who Enters Upon The Office To Which I Have Succeeded Can Fail To Recognize How Every President Of The United States Has Placed Special Reliance Upon His Faith In God. Every President Has Taken Comfort And Courage When Toldthat The Lord 'will Be With Thee. He Will Not Fail Thee Nor Forsake Thee. Fear Not-neither Be Thou Dismayed.' Each Of Our Presidents In His Own Way Has Placed A Special Trust In God. Those Who Were Strongest Intellectually Were Also Strongest Spiritually.

Harvard Gave Me An Education, But Junior Chamber Gave Me An Education For Life.

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

Guiding Principles

Peace Is A Process, A Way Of Solving Problems

Problem Solving

Israel Was Not Created In Order To Disappear. Israel Will Endure And Flourish.

Football Today Is Far Too Much A Sport For The Few Who Can Play It Well; The Rest Of Us, And Too Many Of Our Children, Get Out Exercise From Climbing Up The Seats In Stadiums, Or From Walking Across The Room To Turn On Our Television Sets.

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!'

It Might Be Said Now That I Have The Best Of Both Worlds. A Harvard Education And A Yale Degree.

The High Office Of The President Has Been Used To Foment A Plot To Destroy The American's Freedom And Before I Leave Office, I Must Inform The Citizens Of This Plight.

You Know Nothing For Sure...except The Fact That You Know Nothing For Sure.

If You Look Throughout Human History ... The Central Epiphany Of Every Religious Tradition Always Occurs In The Wilderness.

There Can Be No Progress If People Have No Faith In Tomorrow.

Democracy Is The Superior Form Of Government, Because It Is Based On A Respect For Man As A Reasonable Being.

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.

Our Problems Are Man-made, Therefore They May Be Solved By Man

An Artist's Working Life Is Marked By Intensive Application And Intense Discipline.

Nearly Forty Years Ago, A Distinguished Prime Minister Of This Country ... Said, 'they May Not Be Angels But They Are At Least Our Friends.'* I Must Say That I Do Not Think That We Probably Demonstrated In That Forty Years That We Are Angels Yet, But I Hope We Have Demonstrated That We Are At Least Friends.

Ask Not That The Journey Be Easy; Ask Instead That It Be Worth It.

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

Now The Trumpet Summons Us Again - Not As A Call To Bear Arms, Though Arms We Need; Not As A Call To Battle, Though Embattled We Are; But A Call To Bear The Burden Of A Long Twilight Struggle, Year In And Year Out, 'rejoicing In Hope, Patient In Tribulation', A Struggle Against The Common Enemies Of Man: Tyranny, Poverty, Disease And War Itself.

Show Me A Man With A Great Golf Game, And I’ll Show You A Man Who Has Been Neglecting Something.

Truth Is A Tyrant-the Only Tyrant To Whom We Can Give Our Allegiance. The Service Of Truth Is A Matter Of Heroism.

I Think We're Going To Have To Do Better. Mr. Nixon Talks About Our Being The Strongest Country In The World. I Think We Are Today, But We Were Far Stronger Relative To The Communists 5 Years Ago. And What Is Of Great Concern Is That The Balance Of Power Is In Danger Of Moving With Them. They Made A Breakthrough In Missiles And By 1961, '2, And '3, They Will Be Outnumbering Us In Missiles.

There Is An Old Saying That The Course Of Civilization Is A Race Between Catastrophe And Education. In A Democracy Such As Ours, We Must Make Sure That Education Wins The Race.

My Fellow Americans, Let Us Take That First Step. Let Us...step Back From The Shadow Of War And Seek Out The Way Of Peace. And If That Journey Is A Thousand Miles, Or Even More, Let History Record That We, In This Land, At This Time, Took The First Step.

It Is Not Our Wealth That Built Our Roads, But It Is Our Roads That Built Our Wealth.

The Problem Of Power Is How To Achieve Its Responsible Use Rather Than Its Irresponsible And Indulgent Use; Of How To Get Men Of Power To Live For The Public Rather Than Off The Public.

It Should Be Clear By Now That A Nation Can Be No Stronger Abroad Than She Is At Home. Only An America Which Practices What It Preaches About Equal Rights And Social Justice Will Be Respected By Those Whose Choice Affects Our Future. Only An America Which Has Fully Educated Its Citizens Is Fully Capable Of Tackling The Complex Problems And Perceiving The Hidden Dangers Of The World In Which We Live. And Only An America Which Is Growing And Prospering Economically Can Sustain The Worldwide Defenses Of Freedom, While Demonstrating To All Concerned The Opportunities Of Our System And Society.

If At Times Our Actions Seem To Make Life Difficult For Others, It Is Only Because History Has Made Life Difficult For Us All.

Let Us Welcome Controversial Books And Controversial Authors.

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.

For One True Measure Of A Nation Is Its Success In Fulfilling The Promise Of A Better Life For Each Of Its Members. Let This Be The Measure Of Our Nation.

Our True Choice Is Not Between Tax Reduction On The One Hand And The Avoidance Of Large Federal Deficits On The Other. It Is Increasingly Clear That No Matter What Party Is In Power, So Long As Our National Security Needs Keep Rising, An Economy Hampered By Restrictive Tax Rates Will Never Produce Enough Revenues To Balance Our Budget, Just As It Will Never Produce Enough Jobs Or Enough Profits.

There Are Risks And Costs To Action. But They Are Far Less Than The Long Range Risks Of Comfortable Inaction.

I Look Forward To An America In Which Commands Respect Throughout The World, Not Only For Its Strength, But For Its Civilization As Well. And I Look Forward To A World In Which We Will Be Safe Not Only For Democracy And Diversity But Also For Personal Distinction.

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

The American, By Nature, Is Optimistic. He Is Experimental, An Inventor And A Builder Who Builds Best When Called Upon To Build Greatly.

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.

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.

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

If Somebody Harbours Delusions, I Think That Should Disqualify Them From Office, Regardless Whether The Delusions Are Religious. Letting Someone Who Thinks The God Jehovah Will Bail Him Out Serve In Public Office Is Like Letting A Man Who Believes In Santa Claus Run A Toys 'r Us. 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.

We Are Confronted Primarily With A Moral Issue... Whether All Americans Are To Be Afforded Equal Rights And Equal Opportunities, Whether We Are Going To Treat Our Fellow Americans As We Want To Be Treated.

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

Freedom Is Indivisible, And When One Man Is Enslaved, All Are Not Free.

The Margin Is Narrow, But The Responsibility Is Clear.

Man Is Still The Most Extraordinary Computer Of All.

A Nation Can Be No Stronger Abroad Than She Is At Home. Only An America Which Practices What It Preaches About Equal Rights And Social Justice Will Be Respected By Those Whose Choice Affects Our Future.

If An American, Because His Skin Is Dark, Cannot Eat Lunch In A Restaurant Open To The Public, If He Cannot Send His Children To The Best Public School Available, If He Cannot Vote For The Public Officials Who Represent Him, If, In Short, He Cannot Enjoy The Full And Free Life Which All Of Us Want, Then Who Among Us Would Be Content To Have The Color Of His Skin Changed And Stand In His Place? Who Among Us Would Then Be Content With The Counsels Of Patience And Delay?

Word To The Nation: Guard Zealously Your Right To Serve In The Armed Forces, For Without Them, There Will Be No Other Rights To Guard.

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.

America Has Tossed Its Cap Over The Wall Of Space.

Mankind Must Put An End To War Before War Puts An End To Mankind.

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

A Committee Is Twelve Men Doing The Work Of One.

Do Not Pray For Easy Lives. Pray To Be Stronger Men.

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."

What We Seek To Advance, What We Seek To Develop In All Of Our Colleges And Universities, Are Educated Men And Women Who Can Bear The Burdens Of Responsible Citizenship, Who Can Make Judgments About Life As It Is, And As It Must Be, And Encourage The People To Make Those Decisions Which Can Bring Not Only Prosperity And Security, But Happiness To The People Of The United Sates And Those Who Depend Upon It.

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.

Let's Not Talk So Much About Vice. I'm Against Vice In All Forms.

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

For In A Government Of Laws And Not Of Men, No Man, However Prominent Or Powerful, And No Mob However Unruly Or Boisterous, Is Entitled To Defy A Court Of Law. If This Country Should Ever Reach The Point Where Any Man Or Group Of Men By Force Or Threat Of Force Could Long Defy The Commands Of Our Court And Our Constitution, Then No Law Would Stand Free From Doubt, No Judge Would Be Sure Of His Writ, And No Citizen Would Be Safe From His Neighbors.

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.

Let Both Sides Seek To Invoke The Wonders Of Science Instead Of Its Terrors. Together Let Us Explore The Stars, Conquer The Deserts, Eradicate Disease, Tap The Ocean Depths, And Encourage The Arts And Commerce.

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

I Dont Think That Unless A Greater Effort Is Made By The Government To Win Popular Support That The War Can Be Won Out There. In The Final Analysis, It Is Their War. They Are The Ones Who Have To Win It Or Lose It. We Can Help Them, We Can Give Them Equipment, We Can Send Our Men Out There As Advisers, But They Have To Win It, The People Of Viet-nam, Against The Communists.

The Ancient Greek Definition Of Happiness Was The Full Use Of Your Powers Along Lines Of Excellence.

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.

[war] Can No Longer Be Of Concern To Great Powers Alone.

What Really Counts Is Not The Immediate Act Of Courage Or Of Valor, But Those Who Bear The Struggle Day In And Day Out - Not The Sunshine Patriots But Those Who Are Willing To Stand For A Long Period Of Time.

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

Labour Movement

We Do Not Want An Official State Church. If Ninety-nine Percent Of The Population Were Catholics, I Would Still Be Opposed To It. I Do Not Want Civil Power Combined With Religious Power. I Want To Make It Clear That I Am Committed As A Matter Of Deep Personal Conviction To Separation.

The Most Ideal Approach To Advance Is The Way Of Opportunity.

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

Art Establishes The Basic Human Truths Which Must Serve As The Touchstones Of Our Judgement. The Artist... Faithful To His Personal Vision Of Reality, Becomes The Last Champion Of The Individual Mind And Sensibility Against An Intrusive Society And An Offensive State.

Events Of October 1962 Indicated, As They Had All Through History, That Control Of The Sea Means Security. Control Of The Seas Can Mean Peace. Control Of The Seas Can Mean Victory. The United States Must Control The Seas If It Is To Protect Your Security.

Our Growing Softness, Our Increasing Lack Of Physical Fitness, Is A Menace To Our Security.

The Greeks Understood That Mind And Body Must Develop In Harmonious Proportions To Produce A Creative Intelligence. And So Did The Most Brilliant Intelligence Of Our Earliest Days - Thomas Jefferson - When He Said, Not Less Than Two Hours A Day Should Be Devoted To Exercise. If The Man Who Wrote The Declaration Of Independence, Was Secretary Of State, And Twice President, Could Give It Two Hours, Our Children Can Give It Ten Or Fifteen Minutes.

One Hundred And Fifty Years Ago The Vacant Lands Of The West Were Opened To Private Use. One Hundred Years Ago The Congress Passed The Homestead Act, Probably The Single Greatest Stimulus To National Development Ever Enacted. Under The Impetus Of That Act And Other Laws, More Than 1.1 Billion Acres Of The Original Public Main Have Been Transferred To Private And Non-federal Public Ownership. The 768 Million Acres Remaining In Federal Ownership Are A Valuable National Asset.

Student Loans Have Been Helpful To Many. But They Offer Neither Incentive Nor Assistance To Those Students Who, By Reason Of Family Or Other Obligations, Are Unable Or Unwilling To Go Deeper Into Debt. ... It Is, Moreover, Only Prudent Economic And Social Policy For The Public To Share Part Of The Costs Of The Long Period Of Higher Education For Those Whose Development Is Essential To Our National Economic And Social Well-being. All Of Us Share In The Benefits - All Should Share In The Costs.

Great Crises Produce Great Men, And Great Deeds Of Courage.

There Is A Terrific Disadvantage In Not Having The Abrasive Quality Of The Press Applied To You Daily. Even Though We Never Like It, And Even Though We Wish They Didn't Write It, And Even Though We Disapprove, There Isn't Any Doubt That We Could Not Do The Job At All In A Free Society Without A Very, Very Active Press.

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

Politics Is Like Football; If You See Daylight, Go Through The Hole.

Motivational Sports

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.

Art Establishes The Basic Human Truths Which Must Serve As The Touchstone Of Our Judgement.

We Must Face The Fact That The United States Is Neither Omnipotent Nor Omniscient, That We Cannot Impose Our Will Upon The Other 94 Percent Of Mankind, That We Cannot Right Every Wrong Or Reverse Every Adversity, And That Therefore There Cannot Be An American Solution To Every World Problem.

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.

Lobbyists Are In Many Cases Expert Technicians And Capable Of Explaining Complex And Difficult Subjects In A Clear, Understandable Fashion. They Engage In Personal Discussions With Members Of Congress In Which They Can Explain In Detail The Reasons For Positions They Advocate. Because Our Congressional Representation Is Based On Geographical Boundaries, The Lobbyists Who Speak For The Various Economic, Commercial, And Other Functional Interests Of This Country Serve A Very Useful Purpose And Have Assumed An Important Role In The Legislative Process.

National Parks And Reserves Are An Integral Aspect Of Intelligent Use Of Natural Resources. It Is The Course Of Wisdom To Set Aside An Ample Portion Of Our Natural Resources As National Parks And Reserves, Thus Ensuring That Future Generations May Know The Majesty Of The Earth As We Know It Today.

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

Is This Nation Stating It Cannot Afford To Spend An Additional $600 Million To Help The Developing Nations Of The World Become Strong And Free And Independentan Amount Less Than This Countrys Annual Outlay For Lipstick, Face Cream, And Chewing Gum?

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.

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

All My Life Ive Known Better Than To Depend On The Experts. How Could I Have Been So Stupid, To Let Them Go Ahead?

Life In Freedom Is Not Easy, And Democracy Is Not Perfect.

There Will Always Be Dissident Voices Heard In The Land, Expressing Opposition Without Alternatives, Finding Fault But Never Favor, Perceiving Gloom On Every Side And Seeking Influence Without Responsibility.

For While This Year It May Be A Catholic Against Whom The Finger Of Suspicion Is Pointed, In Other Years It Has Been, And May Someday Be Again, A Jew— Or A Quaker Or A Unitarian Or A Baptist. It Was Virginia's Harassment Of Baptist Preachers, For Example, That Helped Lead To Jefferson's Statute Of Religious Freedom. Today I May Be The Victim, But Tomorrow It May Be You — Until The Whole Fabric Of Our Harmonious Society Is Ripped At A Time Of Great National Peril.

If By A "liberal," They Mean Someone Who Looks Ahead And Not Behind, Someone Who Welcomes New Ideas Without Rigid Reactions, Someone Who Cares About The Welfare Of The People - Their Health, Their Housing, Their Schools, Their Jobs, Their Civil Rights, And Their Civil Liberties - Someone Who Believes That We Can Break Through The Stalemate And Suspicions That Grip Us In Our Policies Abroad, If That Is What They Mean By A "liberal," Then I'm Proud To Say That I'm A "liberal."

We Hold The View That The People Make The Best Judgment In The Long Run.

And Lastly, Chairman Khrushchev Has Compared The United States To A Worn-out Runner Living On Its Past Performance, And Stated That The Soviet Union Would Out-produce The United States By 1970. Without Wishing To Trade Hyperbole With The Chairman, I Do Suggest That He Reminds Me Of The Tiger Hunter Who Has Picked A Place On The Wall To Hang The Tiger's Skin Long Before He His Caught The Tiger. This Tiger Has Other Ideas.

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.

Libraries Should Be Open To All - Except The Censor.

Censorship In Books

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

With A Good Conscience Our Only Sure Reward, With History The Final Judge Of Our Deeds, Let Us Go Forth To Lead The Land We Love, Asking His Blessing And His Help, But Knowing That Here On Earth God's Work Must Truly Be Our Own.

The Great Revolution In The History Of Man, Past, Present And Future, Is The Revolution Of Those Determined To Be Free.

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.

To Those Peoples 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.

Life Isn't Fair. In Never Was And Never Will Be.

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 Must Formulate, With Both Imagination And Restraint, A New Approach To The Middle East - Not Pressing Our Case So Hard That The Arabs Feel Their Neutrality And Nationalism Are Threatened ... While At The Same Time Trying To Hasten The Inevitable Arab Acceptance Of The Permanence Of Israel ... We Must ... Seek A Permanent Settlement Among Arabs And Israelis Based Not On An Armed Truce But On Mutual Self-interest.

Forbidden Fruit Tastes Sweet, But Its Aftertaste Is Bitter.

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.

We Cannot Expect That Everyone, To Use The Phrase Of A Decade Ago, Will Talk Sense To The American People. But We Can Hope That Fewer People Will Listen To Nonsense. And The Notion That This Nation Is Headed For Defeat Through Deficit, Or That Strength Is But A Matter Of Slogans, Is Nothing But Just Plain Nonsense.

It Is Increasingly Clear That No Matter What Party Is In Power, So Long As Our National Security Needs Keep Rising, An Economy Hampered By Restrictive Tax Rates Will Never Produce Enough Jobs Or Enough Profits.

Suspicion On One Side Breeds Suspicion On The Other, And New Weapons Beget Counter-weapons.

For Without Belittling The Courage With Which Men Have Died, We Should Not Forget Those Acts Of Courage With Which Men Have Lived.

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.

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.

You Have, At The Same Time, Placed Your Confidence In Me, And In My Ability To Render A Free, Fair Judgment - To Uphold The Constitution And My Oath Of Office - And To Reject Any Kind Of Religious Pressure Or Obligation That Might Directly Or Indirectly Interfere With My Conduct Of The Presidency In The National Interest.

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.

The Republican Nominee-to-be, Of Course, Is Also A Young Man. But His Approach Is As Old As Mckinley. His Party Is The Party Of The Past. His Speeches Are Generalities From Poor Richard's Almanac. Their Platform, Made Up Of Left-over Democratic Planks, Has The Courage Of Our Old Convictions. Their Pledge Is A Pledge To The Status Quo-and Today There Can Be No Status Quo.

Let Us Resolve To Be Masters, Not The Victims, Of Our History, Controlling Our Own Destiny Without Giving Way To Blind Suspicions And Emotions.

There Is Something That Happens When We Leave The Land And Enter The Ocean. It's Unexpected, The Environment Feels Strangely Welcoming. The Ocean Almost Feels Like... Home.

There Is, In Addition To A Courage With Which Men Die; A Courage By Which Men Must Live.

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.

I Think When We Talk About Corporal Punishment, And We Have To Think About Our Own Children, And We Are Rather Reluctant, It Seems To Me, To Have Other People Administering Punishment To Our Own Children, Because We Are Reluctant, It Puts A Special Obligation On Us To Maintain Order And To Send Children Out From Our Homes Who Accept The Idea Of Discipline. So I Would Not Be For Corporal Punishment In The School, But I Would Be For Very Strong Discipline At Home So We Don't Place An Unfair Burden On Our Teachers.

That Is Why The Aethenian Law Makers So Decreed It A Crime For Any Citizen To Shrink From Controversy. I Am Asking Your Help In The Tremendous Task Of Informing And Alerting The American People. Confident That With Your Help, Man Will Be What He Was Born To Be, Free And Independent.

Democracy May Not Be Perfect, But At Least I Don't Have To Build A Wall To Keep My People In.

May Not Be Perfect

So Let Us Begin Anew -- Remembering On Both Sides That Civility Is Not A Sign Of Weakness, And Sincerity Is Always Subject To Proof. Let Us Never Negotiate Out Of Fear, But Let Us Never Fear To Negotiate. Let Both Sides Explore What Problems Unite Us Instead Of Belaboring Those Problems Which Divide Us.

Freedom Is Indivisible, And When One Man Is Enslaved, All Are Not Free. When All Are Free, Then We Can Look Forward To That Day When This City Will Be Joined As One And This Country And This Great Continent Of Europe In A Peaceful And Hopeful Globe. When That Day Finally Comes, As It Will, The People Of West Berlin Can Take Sober Satisfaction In The Fact That They Were In The Front Lines For Almost Two Decades. 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.

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.

Lower Rates Of Taxation Will Stimulate Economic Activity And So Raise The Levels Of Personal And Corporate Income As To Yield Within A Few Years An Increased - Not A Reduced - Flow Of Revenues To The Federal Government.

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.

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.

Race Has No Place In American Life Or Law.

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.

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.

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

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

It Is Extremely Important That Adequate Provision Be Made For Reasonable Levels Of Income To Them, For The Care Of The Children Which They Must Leave At Home Or In School, And For Protection Of The Family Unit. One Of The Prime Objectives Of The Commission On The Status Of Women, Which I Appointed 18 Months Ago, Is To Develop A Program To Accomplish These Purposes.

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!

I Believe In An America Where The Separation Of Church And State Is Absolute - Where No Catholic Prelate Would Tell The President (should He Be Catholic) How To Act, And No Protestant Minister Would Tell His Parishoners For Whom To Vote - Where No Church Or Church School Is Granted Any Public Funds Or Political Preference - And Where No Man Is Denied Public Office Merely Because His Religion Differs From The President Who Might Appoint Him Or The People Who Might Elect Him.

We've Spent Half The Expenditures, We've Wrecked Our Budget On All These Other Domestic Programs, And The Only Justification For It, In My Opinion, To Do It In The Pell-mell Fashion Is Because We Hope To Beat Them And Demonstrate That Starting Behind Them, As We Did By A Couple Of Years, By God, We Passed Them. I Think It Would Be A Helluva Thing For Us.

Let Us Never Negotiate Out Of Fear. But Let Us Never Fear To Negotiate.

The Fact That We Live In A World That Moves Crisis By Crisis Does Not Make A Growing Interest In Outdoor Activities Frivolous, Or Ample Provision For Them Unworthy Of The Nation's Concern.

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.

I Look Forward To A Great Future For America - A Future In Which Our Country Will Match Its Military Strength With Our Moral Restraint, Its Wealth With Our Wisdom, Its Power With Our Purpose.

Any System Of Government Will Work When Everything Is Going Well. It's The System That Functions In The Pinches That Survive

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

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.'

American History Is Not Something Dead And Over. It Is Always Alive,always Growing, Always Unfinished.

American History

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

Perhaps Scientists Have Been The Most International Of All Professions In Their Outlook... Every Time You Scientists Make A Major Invention, We Politicians Have To Invent A New Institution To Cope With It-and Almost Invariably, These Days, It Must Be An International Institution.

As A Great Democratic Society, We Have A Special Responsibility To The Arts. For Art Is The Great Democrat, Calling Forth Creative Genius From Every Sector Of Society, Disregarding Race Or Religion Or Wealth Or Color. What Freedom Alone Can Bring Is The Liberation Of The Human Mind And A Spirit Which Finds Its Greatest Flowering In The Free Society. I See Of Little More Importance To The Future Of Our Country And Our Civilization Than The Full Recognition Of The Place Of The Artist.

Now Let Me Make It Clear That I Believe There Can Only Be One Defense Policy For The United States And That Is Summed Up In The Word 'first.' I Do Not Mean First, But. I Do Not Mean First, When. I Do Not Mean First, If. I Mean First - Period.

Effort And Courage Are Not Enough Without Purpose And Direction.

You're In There With Me. Personally.

Do You Realize The Responsibility I Carry? I'm The Only Person Standing Between Richard Nixon And The White House.

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

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

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

What's The Use Of Being Irish If The World Doesn't Break Your Heart?

Ireland And The Irish

The Rights Of Every Man Are Diminished When The Rights Of One Man Are Threatened.

Philanthropy, Charity, Giving Voluntarily And Freely... Call It What You Like, But It Is Truly A Jewel Of An American Tradition.

The Education Of Our People Should Be A Lifelong Process By Which We Continue To Feed New Vigor Into The Lifestream Of The Nation Through Intelligent, Reasoned Decisions. Let Us Not Think Of Education Only In Terms Of Its Costs, But Rather In Terms Of The Infinite Potential Of The Human Mind That Can Be Realized Through Education. 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.

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

Trending Author

Samuel Alexander

Daniel J. Boorstin

Mireille Mathieu

Category