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I Must Say That Though Other Days May Not Be So Bright, As We Look Toward The Future, That The Brightest Days Will Continue To Be Those We Spent With You Here In Ireland.

-John F. Kennedy

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I Must Say That

John F. Kennedy

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I Must Say That Though Other Days May Not Be So Bright, As We Look Toward The Future, That The Brightest Days Will Continue To Be Those We Spent With You Here In Ireland.

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The Only Reason To Give A Speech Is To Change The World.

We Need Men Who Can Dream Of Things That Never Were.

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.

But Wherever We Are, We Must All, In Our Daily Lives, Live Up To The Age-old Faith That Peace And Freedom Walk Together. In Too Many Of Our Cities Today, The Peace Is Not Secure Because Freedom Is Incomplete." (john F. Kennedy, June 10, 1963, American University Speech)

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

Failure Has No Friends.

I Have Seen In Many Places Housing Which Has Been Developed Under Government Influences, But I Have Never Seen Any Projects In Which Governments Have Played Their Part Which Have Fountains And Statues And Grass And Trees, Which Are As Important To The Concept Of The Home As The Roof Itself.

Just As I Went Into Politics Because Joe Died, If Anything Happened To Me Tomorrow, My Brother Bobby Would Run For My Seat In The Senate. And If Bobby Died, Teddy Would Take Over For Him.

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.

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.

Children Are The World's Most Valuable Resource And Its Best Hope For The Future.

Too Often In The Past, We Have Thought Of The Artist As An Idler And Dilettante And Of The Lover Of Arts As Somehow Sissy And Effete. We Have Done Both An Injustice. The Life Of The Artist Is, In Relation To His Work, Stern And Lonely. He Has Labored Hard, Often Amid Deprivation, To Perfect His Skill. He Has Turned Aside From Quick Success In Order To Strip His Vision Of Everything Secondary Or Cheapening. His Working Life Is Marked By Intense Application And Intense Discipline.

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

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

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.

But Why, Some Say, The Moon? Why Choose This As Our Goal? And They May Well Ask; Why Climb The Highest Mountain? Why, 35 Years Ago, Fly The Atlantic? Why Does Rice Play Texas?

Our Constitution Wisely Assigns Both Joint And Separate Roles To Each Branch Of The Government; And A President And A Congress Who Hold Each Other In Mutual Respect Will Neither Permit Nor Attempt Any Trespass.

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.

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.

It's Only When They Join Together In A Forward Movement That This Country Moves Ahead.

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.

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.

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

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!

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

Voters Are More Than Catholics, Protestants Or Jews. They Make Up Their Minds For Many Diverse Reasons, Good And Bad. To Submit The Candidates To A Religious Test Is Unfair Enough - To Apply It To The Voters Is Divisive, Degrading And Wholly Unwarranted.

A Canadian Newspaperman Said Yesterday That This Is The President's "easter Egghead Roll On The White House Lawn." I Want To Deny That!

I Really Don't Know Why It Is That All Of Us Are So Committed To The Sea, Except I Think It Is Because In Addition To The Fact That The Sea Changes And The Light Changes, And Ships Change, It Is Because We All Came From The Sea. And It Is An Interesting Biological Fact That All Of Us Have, In Our Veins The Exact Same Percentage Of Salt In Our Blood That Exists In The Ocean, And, Therefore, We Have Salt In Our Blood, In Our Sweat, In Our Tears. We Are Tied To The Ocean. And When We Go Back To The Sea, Whether It Is To Sail Or To Watch It We Are Going Back From Whence We Came.

Democracy Is Never A Final Achievement. It Is A Call To An Untiring Effort.

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.

Whether They Be Young In Spirit, Or Young In Age, The Members Of The Democratic Party Must Never Lose That Youthful Zest For New Ideas And For A Better World, Which Has Made Us Great.

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

Victory Has A Thousand Fathers, But Defeat Is An Orphan.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

United, There Is Little We Cannot Do In A Host Of Cooperative Ventures. Divided, There Is Little We Can Do-for We Dare Not Meet A Powerful Challenge At Odds And Split Asunder.

I Would Not Look With Favor Upon A President Working To Subvert The First Amendment's Guarantees Of Religious Liberty ... Neither Do I Look With Favor Upon Those Who Would Work To Subvert Article Vi Of The Constitution By Requiring A Religious Test - Even By Indirection.

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.

We Must Seek, Above All, A World Of Peace; A World In Which Peoples Dwell Together In Mutual Respect And Work Together In Mutual Regard.

Working Together

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.

The Effort To Improve The Conditions Of Man, However, Is Not A Task For The Few. It Is The Task Of All Nations-acting Alone, Acting In Groups, Acting In The United Nations, For Plague And Pestilence, Plunder And Pollution, The Hazards Of Nature And The Hunger Of Children Are The Foes Of Every Nation. The Earth, The Sea And The Air Are The Concern Of Every Nation. And Science, Technology And Education Can Be The Ally Of Every Nation.

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

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.

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.

Where Else, In A Non-totalitarian Country, But In The Political Profession Is The Individual Expected To Sacrifice All-including His Own Career-for The National Good?

All Students, Members Of The Faculty, And Public Officials In Both Mississippi And The Nation Will Be Able, It Is Hoped, To Return To Their Normal Activities With Full Confidence In The Integrity Of American Law. This Is As It Should Be, For Our Nation Is Founded On The Principle That Observance Of The Law Is The Eternal Safeguard Of Liberty And Defiance Of The Law Is The Surest Road To Tyranny.

If We Are Strong, Our Strength Will Speak For Itself. If We Are Weak, Words Will Be Of No Help.

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.

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

It Is An Unfortunate Fact That We Can Secure Peace Only By Preparing For War.

Lets Talk To One Another Instead Of About One Another.

One-third Of The World, It Has Been Said, May Be Free- -but One-third Is The Victim Of Cruel Repression--and The Other One- Third Is Rocked By The Pangs Of Poverty, Hunger And Envy. More Energy Is Released By The Awakening Of These New Nations Than By The Fission Of The Atom Itself.

Political Action Is The Highest Responsibility Of A Citizen.

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

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 Relationship Between The Soundness Of The Body And The Activities Of The Mind Is Subtle And Complex. Much Is Not Yet Understood. But We Do Know What The Greeks Knew: That Intelligence And Skill Can Only Function At The Peak Of Their Capacity When The Body Is Healthy And Strong; That Hardy Spirits And Tough Minds Usually Inhabit Sound Gods.

I Can't See That It's Wrong To Give Him A Little Legal Experience Before He Goes Out To Practice Law.

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 Day Before My Inauguration President Eisenhower Told Me, You'll Find That No Easy Problems Ever Come To The President Of The United States. If They Are Easy To Solve, Somebody Else Has Solved Them. I Found That Hard To Believe, But Now I Know It Is True.

A Police State Finds That It Cannot Command The Grain To Grow.

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.

By Calling Attention To 'a Well Regulated Militia,' 'the Security Of The Nation,' And The Right Of Each Citizen 'to Keep And Bear Arms,' Our Founding Fathers Recognized The Essentially Civilian Nature Of Our Economy... The Second Amendment Still Remains An Important Declaration Of Our Basic Civilian-military Relationships In Which Every Citizen Must Be Ready To Participate In The Defense Of His Country. For That Reason I Believe The Second Amendment Will Always Be Important.

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.

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.

Forgive Your Enemies, But Never Forget Their Names.

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

Israel Will Endure And Flourish. It Is The Child Of Hope And The Home Of The Brave.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Remember That Our Nation's First Great Leaders Were Also Our First Great Scholars.

I Can Imagine No More Rewarding A Career. And Any Man Who May Be Asked In This Century What He Did To Make His Life Worthwhile, I Think Can Respond With A Good Deal Of Pride And Satisfaction: 'i Served In The United States Navy.

I Look Forward To An America Which Will Not Be Afraid Of Grace And Beauty, Which Will Protect The Beauty Of Our Natural Environment, Which Will Preserve The Great Old American Houses And Squares And Parks Of Our National Past And Which Will Build Handsome And Balanced Cities For Our Future.

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.

It Takes Two To Make Peace.

The Present Tax Codes Inhibit The Mobility And Formation Of Capital, Add Complexities And Inequities Which Undermine The Morale Of The Taxpayer, And Make Tax Avoidance Rather Than Market Factors A Prime Consideration In Too Many Economic Decisions.

A Great Change Is At Hand, And Our Task, Our Obligation, Is To Make That Revolution, That Change, Peaceful And Constructive For All.

The Supreme Reality Of Our Time Is The Vulnerability Of Our Planet.

I'm An Idealist Without Illusions.

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 Basis Of Effective Government Is Public Confidence.

Ethical Standards

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

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

Ethical Standards

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

Ireland And The Irish

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

We Support The Security Of Both Israel And Her Neighbors.

The Jewish People, Ever Since David Slew Goliath, Have Never Considered Youth As A Barrier To Leadership.

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.

Our Children And Grandchildren Are Not Merely Statistics Towards Which We Can Be Indifferent.

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

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. And If We Cannot End Our Differences, At Least We Can Help Make The World Safe For Diversity. For, In The Final Analysis, Our Most Common Link Is That We All Inhabit This Small Planet. We All Breathe The Same Air. We All Cherish Our Children's Future. And We Are All Mortal.

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

The Ignorance Of One Voter In A Democracy Impairs The Security Of All.

There Are Three Things In Life Which Are Real: God, Human Folly And Laughter. Since The First Two Are Beyond Our Comprehension, We Must Do What We Can With The Third.

There Is Little Value In Insuring The Survival Of Our Nation If Our Traditions Do Not Survive With It. And There Is Very Grave Danger That An Announced Need For Increased Security Will Be Seized Upon By Those Anxious To Expand Its Meaning To The Very Limits Of Official Censorship And Concealment.

The Earth, The Sea And Air Are The Concern Of Every Nation. And Science, Technology, And Education Can Be The Ally Of Every Nation.

I Believe In An America That Is On The March - An America Respected By All Nations, Friends And Foes Alike - An America That Is Moving, Doing, Working, Trying - A Strong America In A World Of Peace. That Peace Must Be Based On World Law And World Order, On The Mutual Respect Of All Nations For The Rights And Powers Of Others And On A World Economy In Which No Nation Lacks The Ability To Provide A Decent Standard Of Living For All Of Its People.

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

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

Every American Ought To Have The Right To Be Treated As He Would Wish To Be Treated, As One Would Wish His Children To Be Treated. This Is Not The Case.

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

We Also Need The Provisions In The Tax Bill That Will Permit Working Mothers To Increase The Deduction From Income Tax Liability For Costs Incurred In Providing Care For Their Children While The Mothers Are Working. In October The Commission On The Status Of Women Will Report To Me. This Problem Should Have A High Priority, And I Think That Whatever We Leave Undone This Year We Must Move On This In January.

I Ask Particularly That Those Of You Who Are Now In School Will Prepare Yourselves To Bear The Burden Of Leadership Over The Next 40 Years Here In The United States, And Make Sure That The United States - Which I Believe Almost Alone Has Maintained Watch And Ward For Freedom - That The United States Meet Its Responsibility. That Is A Wonderful Challenge For Us As A People.

For Plague And Pestilence, Plunder And Pollution, The Hazards Of Nature And The Hunger Of Children Are The Foes Of Every Nation. The Earth, The Sea And The Air Are The Concern Of Every Nation.

The Most Effective Means Of Upholding The Law Is Not The State Policeman Or The Marshals Or The National Guard. It Is You. It Lies In Your Courage To Accept Those Laws With Which You Disagree As Well As Those With Which You Agree.

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.

This Nation Was Founded By Men Of Many Nations And Backgrounds. It Was Founded On The Principle That All Men Are Created Equal, And That The Rights Of Every Man Are Diminished When The Rights Of One Man Are Threatened ... It Ought To To Be Possible, In Short, For Every American To Enjoy The Privileges Of Being American Without Regard To His Race Or His Color.

President Roosevelt And President Truman And President Eisenhower Had The Same Experience, They All Made The Effort To Get Along With The Russians. But Every Time, Finally It Failed. And The Reason It Failed Was Because The Communists Are Determined To Destroy Us, And Regardless Of What Hand Of Friendship We May Hold Out Or What Arguments We May Put Up, The Only Thing That Will Make That Decisive Difference Is The Strength Of The United States.

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.

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.

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.

Never Have The Nations Of The World Had So Much To Lose, Or So Much To Gain. Together We Shall Save Our Planet, Or Together We Shall Perish In Its Flames.

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

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.

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.'

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.

I Have Said That Control Of Arms Is A Mission That We Undertake Particularly For Our Children And Our Grandchildren And That They Have No Lobby In Washington.

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

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

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

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.

The Physical Fitness Of Our Citizens Is A Vital Prerequisite To America's Realization Of Its Full Potential As A Nation, And To The Opportunity Of Each Individual Citizen To Make Full And Fruitful Use Of His Capacities.

Not Everyone Has Equal Abilities, But Everyone Should Have Equal Opportunity For Education.

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.

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.

We Celebrate The Past To Awaken The Future.

All Of Us Do Not Have Equal Talent, But All Of Us Should Have An Equal Opportunity To Develop Our Talent.

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.

While We Shall Negotiate Freely, We Shall Not Negotiate Freedom.

I Would Rather Be Accused Of Breaking Precedents Than Breaking Promises.

Broken Promises

Keeping Your Word

Breaking Promises

We Stand Today On The Edge Of A New Frontier.

[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.

That Is The Kind Of America In Which I Believe. And It Represents The Kind Of Presidency In Which I Believe - A Great Office That Must Neither Be Humbled By Making It The Instrument Of Any One Religious Group Nor Tarnished By Arbitrarily Withholding Its Occupancy From The Members Of Any One Religious Group. 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.

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

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

We Must Create World-wide Law And Law Enforcement As We Outlaw World-wide War And Weapon

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 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.

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.

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

Whether I Serve One Or Two Terms In The Presidency, I Will Find Myself At The End Of That Period At What Might Be Called The Awkward Age-too Old To Begin A New Career And Too Young To Write My Memoirs.

To Be Courageous Requires No Exceptional Qualifications, No Magic Formula, No Special Combination Of Time, Place, And Circumstance. It Is An Opportunity That Sooner Or Later Is Presented To Us All.

We Choose To Go To The Moon In This Decade And Do The Other Things. Not Because They Are Easy, But Because They Are Hard.

The Complacent, The Self-indulgent, The Soft Societies Are About To Be Swept Away With The Debris Of History. Only The Strong, Only The Industrious, Only The Determined, Only The Courageous, Only The Visionary Who Determine The Real Nature Of Our Struggle Can Possibly Survive.

One Of The Best Ways To Expand His Horizon Is Through A Regular Reading Program.

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.

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

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.

Civility Is Not A Sign Of Weakness.

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

Guiding Principles

There Is Always Inequity In Life. Some Men Are Killed In War And Some Men Are Wounded; Some Men Never Leave The Country, Some Men Are Stationed In The Antarctic And Some Are Stationed In San Francisco. It's Very Hard In Military Or In Personal Life To Assure Complete Equality. Life Is Unfair.

If This Capsule History Of Our Progress Teaches Us Anything, It Is That Man, In His Quest For Knowledge And Progress, Is Determined And Cannot Be Deterred.

The Efforts Of Governments Alone Will Never Be Enough. In The End, The People Must Choose And The People Must Help Themselves.

We Have Become More And More Not A Nation Of Athletes But A Nation Of Spectators.

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.

Those Who Dare To Fail Miserably Can Achieve Greatly.

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

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

Persons Are Judged To Be Great Because Of The Positive Qualities They Possess, Not Because Of The Absence Of Faults.

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

If I Had To Live My Life Over Again, I Would Have A Different Father, A Different Wife And A Different Religion.

I Believe In An America ... 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.

The Only Valid Test Of Leadership Is The Ability To Lead, And Lead Vigorously.

But I Think It Is Also Important That We Pay Tribute And Acknowledge Another Great Principle, And That Is The Principle Of Religious Conviction. Religious Freedom Has No Significance Unless It Is Accompanied By Conviction.

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

I Strongly Believe In Scouting. ... It's A Source Of Great Strength To Us.

We Are Not Afraid To Entrust The American People With Unpleasant Facts, Foreign Ideas, Alien Philosophies, And Competitive Values.

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

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

There Comes A Point Where You See No Evidence That The Carrot And Diplomacy Are Working.

No One Gains From Fair Employment Law And Legislation If There Is No Employment To Be Had.

In A Time Of Turbulence And Change, It Is More True Than Ever That Knowledge Is Power.

Knowledge Is Power

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

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.

The Unity Of Freedom Has Never Relied On Uniformity Of Opinion.

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

There Are No 'white' Or 'coloured' Signs On The Foxholes Or Graveyards Of Battle.

Never Before Has Man Had Such A Great Capacity To Control His Own Environment, To End Hunger, Poverty And Disease, To Banish Illiteracy And Human Misery. We Have The Power To Make The Best Generation Of Mankind In The History Of The World.

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.

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

Nuclear Weapons

I'm 43 Years Old And I'm The Healthiest Candidate For The Presidency Of The United States. You've Travelled With Me Enough To Know That I'm Not Going To Die In Office.

A Boy Spends His Time Finding A Girl To Sleep With. A Real Man Spends His Time Looking For The One Worth Waking Up To.

'the Green Beret' Is Again Becoming A Symbol Of Excellence, A Badge Of Courage, A Mark Of Distinction In The Fight For Freedom. I Know The United States Army Will Live Up To Its Reputation For Imagination, Resourcefulness, And Spirit As We Meet This Challenge.

Should I Become President...i Will Not Risk American Lives...by Permitting Any Other Nation To Drag Us Into The Wrong War At The Wrong Place At The Wrong Time Through An Unwise Commitment That Is Unwise Militarily, Unnecessary To Our Security And Unsupported By Our Allies.

If Sometimes Our Great Artists Have Been The Most Critical Of Our Society, It Is Because Their Sensitivity And Their Concern For Justice, Which Must Motivate Any True Artist, Makes Him Aware That Our Nation Falls Short Of Its Highest Potential. I See Little Of More Importance To The Future Of Our Country And Our Civilization Than Full Recognition Of The Place Of The Artist.

No Country Can Possibly Move Ahead, No Free Society Can Possibly Be Sustained, Unless It Has An Educated Citizenry Whose Qualities Of Mind And Heart Permit It To Take Part In The Complicated And Increasingly Sophisticated Decisions That Pour Not Only Upon The President And Upon The Congress, But Upon All The Citizens Who Exercise The Ultimate Power.

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

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.

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 White House Was Designed By Hoban, A Noted Irish-american Architect, And I Have No Doubt That He Believed By Incorporating Several Features Of The Dublin Style He Would Make It More Homelike For Any President Of Irish Descent. It Was A Long Wait, But I Appreciate His Efforts.

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

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.

So Let Us Persevere. Peace Need Not Be Impracticable, And War Need Not Be Inevitable. By Defining Our Goal More Clearly, By Making It Seem More Manageable And Less Remote, We Can Help All Peoples To See It, To Draw Hope From It, And To Move Irresistibly Toward It.

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.

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Harold Ford, Jr.

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