Background Image

...

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.

-John F. Kennedy

...

Please Wait....
Translating....

Our Way Of Life

John F. Kennedy

...

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.

Views: 6

Topic

More From John F. Kennedy

Washington Is A City Of Southern Efficiency And Northern Charm.

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.

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.

Bullfight Critics Row On Row Fill The Enormous Plaza De Toros But Only One Is There Who Knows And He Is The One Who Fights The Bull.

Every Area Of Trouble Gives Out A Ray Of Hope; And The One Unchangeable Certainty Is That Nothing Is Certain Or Unchangeable.

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

Civility Is Not A Sign Of Weakness.

A Child Miseducated Is A Child Lost.

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

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 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.

I Had Always Enjoyed The Title Of Commander-in-chief Until I Was Informed ... That The Only Forces That Cannot Be Transferred From Washington Without My Express Permission Are The Members Of The Marine Corps Band. Those Are The Only Forces I Have. I Want It Announced That We Propose To Hold The White House Against All Odds At Least For Some Time To Come.

Our Most Basic Common Link Is That We All Inhabit This Small Planet.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Let Us Examine Our Attitude Toward Peace Itself. Too Many Of Us Think It Is Impossible. Too Many Think It Unreal. But That Is A Dangerous, Defeatist Belief. It Leads To The Conclusion That War Is Inevitable, That Mankind Is Doomed, That We Are Gripped By Forces We Cannot Control. We Need Not Accept That View. Our Problems Are Manmade; Therefore They Can Be Solved By Man. And Man Can Be As Big As Be Wants. No Problem Of Human Destiny Is Beyond Human Beings.

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 Credit Of Success Is Claimed By All, While A Disaster Is Attributed To One Alone.

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!'

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.

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.

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

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

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

While Much Remains To Be Done To Achieve Full Equality Of Economic Opportunity-for The Average Woman Worker Earns Only 60 Percent Of The Average Wage For Men-this Legislation Is A Significant Step Forward.

The Rising Tide Lifts All The Boats.

To Those Whom Much Is Given, Much Is Expected.

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.

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.

Communism Has Never Come To Power In A Country That Was Not Disrupted By War Or Corruption, Or Both.

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

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.

Budget Deficits Are Not Caused By Wild-eyed Spenders, But By Slow Economic Growth And Periodic Recessions. And Any New Recession Would Break All Deficit Records. In Short, It Is A Paradoxical Truth That Tax Rates Are Too High Today And Tax Revenues Are Too Low, And The Soundest Way To Raise The Revenues In The Long Run Is To Cut The Rates Now.

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

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

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.

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.

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

The Republican Party Can Lead Any Person To Believe That Their Promises Will Be Fulfilled In The Future. They Follow The Hitler Line – No Matter How Big The Lie; Repeat It Often Enough And The Masses Will Regard It As Truth.

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.

It Is In The American Tradition To Stand Up For One's Rights--even If The New Way To Stand Up For One's Rights Is To Sit Down.

A Technological Revolution On The Farm Has Led To An Output Explosion--but We Have Not Yet Learned To Harness That Explosion Usefully, While Protecting Our Farmers' Right To Full Parity Income

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

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!'

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.

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.

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

War Will Exist Until That Distant Day When The Conscientious Objector Enjoys The Same Reputation And Prestige That The Warrior Does Today.

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.

The Wave Of The Future Is Not The Conquest Of The World By A Single Dogmatic Creed But The Liberation Of The Diverse Energies Of Free Nations And Free Men.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

If We Cannot Now End Our Differences, At Least We Can Help Make The World Safe For Diversity.

In Serving His Vision Of The Truth, The Artist Best Serves His Nation.

This Country Cannot Afford To Be Materially Rich And Spiritually Poor.

As They Say On My Own Cape Cod, A Rising Tide Lifts All The Boats. And A Partnership, By Definition, Serves Both Partners, Without Domination Or Unfair Advantage. Together We Have Been Partners In Adversitylet Us Also Be Partners In Prosperity.

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.

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.

There's An Old Saying. Never Send A Boy To Do A Man's Job, Send A Lady.

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.

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.

There Has Also Been A Change - A Slippage - In Our Intellectual And Moral Strength. Seven Lean Years Of Drouth And Famine Have Withered A Field Of Ideas.

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

Nuclear Weapons

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

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.

We Celebrate The Past To Awaken The Future.

Foreign Aid Is A Method By Which The United States Maintains A Position Of Influence And Control Around The World

Any Danger Spot Is Tenable If Men, Brave Men, Will Make It So.

The United States Has To Move Very Fast To Even Stand Still.

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.

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

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

Motivational Sports

After Visiting These Places, You Can Easily Understand How That Within A Few Years Hitler Will Emerge From The Hatred That Surrounds Him Now As One Of The Most Significant Figures Who Ever Lived. He Had Boundless Ambition For His Country Which Rendered Him A Menace To The Peace Of The World, But He Had A Mystery About Him In The Way That He Lived And In The Manner Of His Death That Will Live And Grow After Him. He Had In Him The Stuff Of Which Legends Are Made.

World Peace, Like Community Peace, Does Not Require That Each Man Love His Neighbor - It Requires Only That They Live Together With Mutual Tolerance, Submitting Their Disputes To A Just And Peaceful Settlement.

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

This Country Was Founded By Men And Women Who Were Dedicated Or Came To Be Dedicated To Two Propositions; First, A Strong Religious Conviction, And Secondly A Recognition That This Conviction Could Flourish Only Under A System Of Freedom.

Time And The World Do Not Stand Still. Change Is The Law Of Life.

Future Thinking

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.

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

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

It Is A Paradoxical Truth That Tax Rates Are Too High And Tax Revenues Are Too Low And The Soundest Way To Raise The Revenues In The Long Run Is To Cut The Rates Now Cutting Taxes Now Is Not To Incur A Budget Deficit, But To Achieve The More Prosperous, Expanding Economy Which Can Bring A Budget Surplus.

I'm An Idealist Without Illusions.

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.

Disarmament Without Checks Is But A Shadow - And A Community Without Law Is But A Shell.

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

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.

The Basic Problems Facing The World Today Are Not Susceptible To A Military Solution.

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

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

Knowledge Is Power

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.

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, Because That Goal Will Serve To Organize And Measure The Best Of Our Energies And Skills, Because That Challenge Is One That We Are Willing To Accept, One We Are Unwilling To Postpone, And One Which We Intend To Win.

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.

We Stand Today On The Edge Of A New Frontier - The Frontier Of The 1960's - A Frontier Of Unknown Opportunities And Perils - A Frontier Of Unfulfilled Hopes And Threats.

Our Alliance Is Born, Not Of Fear, But Of Hope. It Is An Alliance That Advances What We Are For, As Well As Opposes What We Are Against.

So Let Us Begin Anew - Remembering On Both Sides That Civility Is Not A Sign Of Weakness, And Sincerity Is Always Subject To Proof

Peace Is A Process, A Way Of Solving Problems

Problem Solving

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

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.

Our Most Basic Common Link Is That We All Inhabit This Planet. We All Breathe The Same Air. We All Cherish Our Children's Future. And We Are All Mortal.

... The Athenian Lawmaker Solon Decreed It A Crime For Any Citizen To Shrink From Controversy.

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

History Will Never Accept Difficulties As An Excuse.

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.

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

Our National Conservation Effort Must Include The Complete Spectrum Of Resources: Air, Water, And Land; Fuels, Energy, And Minerals; Soils, Forests, And Forage; Fish And Wildlife. Together They Make Up The World Of Nature Which Surrounds Us- Of The American Heritage.

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.

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. We Decided Long Ago That The Dangers Of Excessive And Unwarranted Concealment Of Pertinent Facts Far Outweighed The Dangers Which Are Cited To Justify It. Even Today, There Is Little Value In Opposing The Threat Of A Closed Society By Imitating Its Arbitrary Restrictions. Even Today, There Is Little Value In Insuring The Survival Of Our Nation If Our Traditions Do Not Survive With It.

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 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.

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.

If This Nation Is To Be Wise As Well As Strong, If We Are To Achieve Our Destiny, Then We Need More New Ideas For More Wise Men Reading More Good Books In More Public Libraries. These Libraries Should Be Open To All — Except The Censor. We Must Know All The Facts And Hear All The Alternatives And Listen To All The Criticisms. Let Us Welcome Controversial Books And Controversial Authors. For The Bill Of Rights Is The Guardian Of Our Security As Well As Our Liberty.

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

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

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.

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.

To Sound The Alarm Is Not To Panic But To Seek Action From An Aroused Public.

I Look Forward To An America Which Will Not Be Afraid Of Grace And Beauty.

For To Save Mankind's Future Freedom, We Must Face Up To Any Risk That Is Necessary. We Will Always Seek Peace - But We Will Never Surrender.

Compromise Does Not Mean Cowardice.

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.

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.

It Was Involuntary. They Sank My Boat.

Partnership Is Not A Posture But A Process-a Continuous Process That Grows Stronger Each Year As We Devote Ourselves To Common Tasks.

I Speak Of Peace, Therefore, As The Necessary Rational End Of Rational Men. I Realize The Pursuit Of Peace Is Not As Dramatic As The Pursuit Of War... But We Have No More Urgent Task.

I Am Sorry To Say That There Is Too Much Point To The Wisecrack That Life Is Extinct On Other Planets Because Their Scientists Were More Advanced Than Ours.

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.

Modern Cynics And Skeptics... See No Harm In Paying Those To Whom They Entrust The Minds Of Their Children A Smaller Wage Than Is Paid To Those To Whom They Entrust The Care Of Their Plumbing.

Where Nature Makes Natural Allies Of Us All, We Can Demonstrate That Beneficial Relations Are Possible Even With Those With Whom We Most Deeply Disagree-and This Must Someday Be The Basis Of World Peace And World Law.

We Have Some Of The Most Influential Members Of Congress Here Today, And I Do Hope That We Can Get This Appropriation For These Day-care Centers, Which Seems To Me To Be Money Very Wisely Spent, And Also Under Consideration Of The Tax Bill, That We Can Consider The Needs Of The Working Mothers, And Both Of These Will Be Very Helpful, And I Would Like To Lobby In Their Behalf.

There's An Old Saying That Victory Has A Hundred Fathers And Defeat Is An Orphan.... I'm The Responsible Officer Of The Government.

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

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.

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

We Cannot Be Satisfied With Things As They Are. We Cannot Be Satisfied To Drift, To Rest On Our Oars, To Glide Over A Sea Whose Depths Are Shaken By Subterranean Upheavals.

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.

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

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 Highest Duty Of The Writer, The Composer, The Artist, Is To Remain True To Himself And To Let The Chips Fall Where They May.

And So It Is To The Printing Press--to The Recorder Of Mans Deeds, The Keeper Of His Conscience, The Courier Of His News-- That We Look For Strength And Assistance, Confident That With Your Help Man Will Be What He Was Born To Be: Free And Independent.

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.

But Colonialism In Its Harshest Forms Is Not Only The Exploitation Of New Nations By Old, Of Dark Skins By Light, Or The Subjugation Of The Poor By The Rich. My Nation Was Once A Colony, And We Know What Colonialism Means; The Exploitation And Subjugation Of The Weak By The Powerful, Of The Many By The Few, Of The Governed Who Have Given No Consent To Be Governed, Whatever Their Continent, Their Class, Their Color.

To Exclude From Positions Of Trust And Command All Those Below The Age Of 44 Would Have Kept Jefferson From Writing The Declaration Of Independence, Washington From Commanding The Continental Army, Madison From Fathering The Constitution, Hamilton From Serving As Secretary Of The Treasury, Clay From Being Elected Speaker Of The House And Christopher Columbus From Discovering America.

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.

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

Be Strong And Of Good Courage; Be Not Afraid, Neither Be Thou Dismayed.

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.

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.

We In This Country, In This Generation, Are, By Destiny Rather Than Choice, The Watchmen On The Walls Of World Freedom.

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.

No Responsibility Of Government Is More Fundamental Than The Responsibility Of Maintaining The Highest Standard Of Ethical Behavior For Those Who Conduct The Public Business.

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.

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

We Stand Today On The Edge Of A New Frontier.

Above All, We Are Coming To Understand That The Arts Incarnate The Creativity Of A Free People. When The Creative Impulse Cannot Flourish, When It Cannot Freely Select Its Methods And Objects, When It Is Deprived Of Spontaneity, Then Society Severs The Root Of Art.

In A World Of Danger And Trial, Peace Is Our Deepest Aspiration.

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.

Justice Delayed Is Democracy Denied.

[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.

In A World Of Danger And Trial, Peace Is Our Deepest Aspiration, And When Peace Comes We Will Gladly Convert Not Our Swords Into Plowshares, But Our Bombs Into Peaceful Reactors, And Our Planes Into Space Vessels. "pursue Peace," The Bible Tells Us, And We Shall Pursue It With Every Effort And Every Energy That We Possess. But It Is An Unfortunate Fact That We Can Secure Peace Only By Preparing For War.

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.

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

We Believe That When Men Reach Beyond This Planet, They Should Leave Their National Differences Behind Them.

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 Suppose If You Could Have Only One Thing, It Would Be That-energy. Without It, You Haven't Got A Thing.

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

I Am Not The Catholic Candidate For President. I Am The Democratic Party's Candidate For President, Who Happens Also To Be A Catholic.

The Greater Our Knowledge Increases The More Our Ignorance Unfolds.

The United States, As The World Knows, Will Never Start A War. We Do Not Want A War. We Do Not Now Expect A War. This Generation Of Americans Has Already Had Enough - More Than Enough - Of War And Hate And Oppression. We Shall Be Prepared If Others Wish It. We Shall Be Alert To Try To Stop It. But We Shall Also Do Our Part To Build A World Of Peace Where The Weak Are Safe And The Strong Are Just. We Are Not Helpless Before That Task Or Hopeless Of Its Success. Confident And Unafraid, We Labor On - Not Toward A Strategy Of Annihilation But Toward A Strategy Of Peace.

I Want To Emphasize In The Great Concentration Which We Now Place Upon Scientists And Engineers How Much We Still Need The Men And Women Educated In The Liberal Tradition, Willing To Take The Long Look, Undisturbed By Prejudices And Slogans Of The Moment, Who Attempt To Make An Honest Judgment On Difficult Events.

Blight Has Descended On Our Regulatory Agencies - And A Dry Rot, Beginning In Washington, Is Seeping Into Every Corner Of America - In The Payola Mentality, The Expense Account Way Of Life, The Confusion Between What Is Legal And What Is Right.

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

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

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.

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.

Be Aware Of Danger-but Recognize The Opportunity

Never Let Your Fears Hold You Back From Pursuing Your Hopes.

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.

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

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

A Tax Cut Means Higher Family Income And Higher Business Profits And A Balanced Federal Budget....as The National Income Grows, The Federal Government Will Ultimately End Up With More Revenues. Prosperity Is The Real Way To Balance Our Budget. By Lowering Tax Rates, By Increasing Jobs And Income, We Can Expand Tax Revenues And Finally Bring Our Budget Into Balance.

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

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

To Further The Appreciation Of Culture Among All The People, To Increase Respect For The Creative Individual, To Widen Participation By All The Processes And Fulfillments Of Artthis Is One Of The Fascinating Challenges Of These Days.

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

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.

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

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

Real Men Stay Faithful. They Don't Have Time To Look For Other Women Because They're Too Busy Looking For New Ways To Love Their Own.

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

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

Political Action Is The Highest Responsibility Of A Citizen.

No One Has Been Barred On Account Of His Race From Fighting Or Dying For America, There Are No White Or Colored Signs On The Foxholes Or Graveyards Of Battle.

In A Time Of Domestic Crisis, Men Of Goodwill And Generosity Should Be Able To Unite Regardless Of Party Or Politics.

Trending Author

Nicholson Baker

Patricia Hill Collins

Category