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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.

-John F. Kennedy

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Some Of My Colleagues

John F. Kennedy

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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.

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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.

Liberty Without Learning Is Always In Peril And Learning Without Liberty Is Always In Vain.

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

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.

You Can Milk A Cow The Wrong Way Once And Still Be A Farmer, But Vote The Wrong Way On A Water Tower And You Can Be In Trouble.

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.

The Margin Is Narrow, But The Responsibility Is Clear.

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.

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

Broken Promises

Keeping Your Word

Breaking Promises

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.

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.

We Would Like To Live As We Once Lived, But History Will Not Permit It.

The Human Mind Is Our Fundamental Resource.

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.

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

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

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

So Let Us Here Resolve That Dag Hammarskjold Did Not Live, Or Die, In Vain. Let Us Call A Truce To Terror. Let Us Invoke The Blessings Of Peace. And, As We Build An International Capacity To Keep Peace, Let Us Join In Dismantling The National Capacity To Wage War.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

Fail Miserably, Achieve Greatly!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Man Is Still The Most Extraordinary Computer Of All.

A Young Man Who Does Not Have What It Takes To Perform Military Service Is Not Likely To Have What It Takes To Make A Living. Today's Military Rejects Include Tomorrow's Hard-core Unemployed.

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

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.

Peace Does Not Rest In The Charters And Covenants Alone. It Lies In The Hearts And Minds Of All People. So Let Us Not Rest All Our Hopes On Parchment And On Paper, Let Us Strive To Build Peace, A Desire For Peace, A Willingness To Work For Peace In The Hearts And Minds Of All Of Our People. I Believe That We Can. I Believe The Problems Of Human Destiny Are Not Beyond The Reach Of Human Beings.

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 Wall Is A Hell Of A Lot Better Than A War.

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.

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. There Are Some Who Say That Communism Is The Wave Of The Future. Let Them Come To Berlin. And There Are Some Who Say In Europe And Elsewhere We Can Work With The Communists. Let Them Come To Berlin. And There Are Even A Few Who Say That It Is True That Communism Is An Evil System, But It Permits Us To Make Economic Progress. Lass' Sie Nach Berlin Kommen. Let Them Come To Berlin.

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

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.

Physical Fitness Is The Basis For All Other Forms Of Excellence.

Physical Fitness

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.

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

Above All, We Are Coming To Understand That The Arts Incarnate The Creativity Of A Free People.

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

To State The Facts Frankly Is Not To Despair The Future Nor Indict The Past. The Prudent Heir Takes Careful Inventory Of His Legacies And Gives A Faithful Accounting To Those Whom He Owes An Obligation Of Trust.

The Final And Best Means Of Strengthening Demand Among Consumers And Business Is To Reduce The Burden On Private Income And The Deterrence To Private Initiative Which Are Imposed By Our Present Tax System, And This Administration Pledged Itself Last Summer To An Across-the-board, Top-to-bottom Cut In Personal And Corporate Income Taxes To Be Enacted And Become Effective In 1963.

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.

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

Those Who Dare To Fail Miserably Can Achieve Greatly.

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

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

While They Came From A Variety Of Religious Backgrounds And Held A Wide Variety Of Religious Beliefs, Each Of Our Presidents In His Own Way Has Placed A Special Trust In God.

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.

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

For Man Holds In His Mortal Hands The Power To Abolish All Forms Of Human Poverty And All Forms Of Human Life. And Yet The Same Revolutionary Beliefs For Which Our Forebears Fought Are Still At Issue Around The Globe -- The Belief That The Rights Of Man Come Not From The Generosity Of The State, But From The Hand Of God.

It Was Involuntary. They Sank My Boat.

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

I Want Every American To Be Free To Stand Up For His Rights, Even If Sometimes He Has To Sit Down For Them.

Those Who Came Before Us Made Certain That This Country Rode The First Waves Of The Industrial Revolution, The First Waves Of Modern Invention And The First Wave Of Nuclear Power. And This Generation Does Not Intend To Founder In The Backwash Of The Coming Age Of Space. We Mean To Be Part Of It-we Mean To Lead It.

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

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

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

My Brother Bob Doesn't Want To Be In Government - He Promised Dad He'd Go Straight.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

Khrushchev Reminds Me Of The Tiger Hunter Who Has Picked A Place On The Wall To Hang The Tiger's Skin Long Before He Has Caught The Tiger. This Tiger Has Other Ideas.

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

I Am Talking About Genuine Peace, The Kind Of Peace That Makes Life On Earth Worth Living, The Kind That Enables Men And Nations To Grow And To Hope And To Build A Better Life For Their Children - Not Merely Peace For Americans But Peace For All Men And Women - Not Merely Peace In Our Time But Peace For All Time.

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.

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.

Our Economy Today Depends Upon Women In The Labor Force. One Out Of Three Workers Is A Woman. Today, There Are Almost 25 Million Women Employed, And Their Number Is Rising Faster Than The Number Of Men In The Labor Force.

I Do Not Say That All Men Are Equal In Their Ability, Character And Motivation. I Do Say That Every American Should Be Given A Fair Chance To Develop All The Talents They May Have.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

Geography Has Made Us Neighbors. History Has Made Us Friends. Economics Has Made Us Partners, And Necessity Has Made Us Allies. Those Whom God Has So Joined Together, Let No Man Put Asunder.

I Would Encourage Every American To Walk As Often As Possible. It's More Than Healthy; It's Fun.

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

Motivational Sports

I Was Born An American, I Live Like An American, I Will Die An American.

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.

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.

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

There Is Always Inequality In Life. Some Men Are Killed In A War And Some Men Are Wounded And Some Men Never Leave The Country. Life Is Unfair.

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.

I Am Grateful To Those Members Of Congress Who Worked So Diligently To Guide The Equal Pay Act Through. It Is A First Step. It Affirms Our Determination That When Women Enter The Labor Force They Will Find Equality In Their Pay Envelopes.

Let Us Welcome Controversial Books And Controversial Authors.

The Function And Responsibility Of The President Is To Set Before The American People The Unfinished Business, The Things We Must Do If We Are Going To Succeed As A Nation.

Unfinished Business

Expansion And Modernization Of The Nation's Productive Plant Is Essential To Accelerate Economic Growth And To Improve The International Competitive Position Of American Industry An Early Stimulus To Business Investment Will Promote Recovery And Increase Employment.

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.

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.

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.

There Are Only Two Realities In Life: Death And Laughter. We Can Do Nothing To Change The Former, So We Might As Well Do All We Can To Save The Latter.

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.

Just Because We Cannot See Clearly Te End Of The Road, That Is No Reason For Not Setting Out On The Essential Journey.

Collective Bargaining Has Always Been The Bedrock Of The American Labor Movement. I Hope That You Will Continue To Anchor Your Movement To This Foundation. Free Collective Bargaining Is Good For The Entire Nation. In My View, It Is The Only Alternative To State Regulation Of Wages And Prices - A Path Which Leads Far Down The Grim Road Of Totalitarianism. Those Who Would Destroy Or Further Limit The Rights Of Organized Labor - Those Who Would Cripple Collective Bargaining Or Prevent Organization Of The Unorganized - Do A Disservice To The Cause Of Democracy.

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.

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!

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

We Go Into Space Because Whatever Mankind Must Undertake, Free Men Must Fully Share.

Nor Problem Of Human Destiny Is Beyond Human Beings.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

Ask Not What Your Community Can Do For You; Ask What Your Community Can Not Do For Anyone Else.

If The Self-discipline Of The Free Cannot Match The Iron Discipline Of The Mailed Fist, In Economic, Political, Scientific, And All The Other Kinds Of Struggles, As Well As The Military, Then The Peril To Freedom Will Continue To Rise.

The Us Airforce Assures Me That Ufo's Pose No Threat To National Security.

National Security

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!'

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 For These Reasons That I Believe We Must Expand Day-care Centers And Provide Other Assistance Which I Have Recommended To The Congress. At Present, The Total Facilities Of All The Licensed Day-care Centers In The Nation Can Take Care Of Only 185,000 Children. Nearly 500,000 Children Under 12 Must Take Care Of Themselves While Their Mothers Work. This, It Seems To Me, Is A Formula For Disaster.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

I Think 'hail To The Chief' Has A Nice Ring To It.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Things Do Not Happen. Things Are Made To Happen.

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.

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

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.

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

American History

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 New And Terrible Dangers Which Man Has Created Can Only Be Controlled By Man.

Neither Smiles Nor Frowns, Neither Good Intentions Nor Harsh Words, Are A Substitute For Strength.

Good Intentions

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

I 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.

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.

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

Certainty In Life

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

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.

Without Debate, Without Criticism No Administration And No Country Can Succeed And No Republic Can Survive.

Easy Money, Sudden Fortunes, Increasingly Powerful Political Machines And Blatant Corruption Transformed Much Of The Nation; And The Senate, As Befits A Democratic Legislative Body, Accurately Represented The Nation.

There Is Too Little Public Recognition Of How Much We All Depend Upon Farmers As Stewards Of Our Soil, Water And Wildlife Resources.

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.

Let The Word Go Forth From This Time And Place, To Friend And Foe Alike, That The Torch Has Been Passed To A New Generation Of Americans - Born In This Century, Tempered By War, Disciplined By A Hard And Bitter Peace.

Most Of Us Are Conditioned For Many Years To Have A Political Viewpoint - Republican Or Democratic, Liberal, Conservative, Or Moderate. The Fact Of The Matter Is That Most Of The Problems That We Now Face Are Technical Problems, Are Administrative Problems. They Are Very Sophisticated Judgments, Which Do Not Lend Themselves To The Great Sort Of Passionate Movements Which Have Stirred This Country So Often In The Past. - They Deal With Questions Which Are Now Beyond The Comprehension Of Most Men.

Self-government Requires Qualities Of Self-denial And Restraint.

Aggressive Conduct, If Allowed To Go Unchecked And Unchallenged, Ultimately Leads To War.

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

We Stand For Freedom. That Is Our Conviction For Ourselves; That Is Our Only Commitment To Others.

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.

In A Very Real Sense, It Will Not Be One Man Going To The Moon It Will Be An Entire Nation. For All Of Us Must Work To Put Him There.

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.

Our Problems Are Man-made, Therefore They May Be Solved By Man. And Man Can Be As Big As He Wants. No Problem Of Human Destiny Is Beyond Human Beings.

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

A Tired Nation, Said David Lloyd George, Is A Tory Nation, And The United States Today Cannot Afford To Be Either Tired Or Tory.

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."

No President Should Fear Public Scrutiny Of His Program. For From That Scrutiny Comes Understanding; And From That Understanding Comes Support Or Opposition And Both Are Necessary. I Am Not Asking Your Newspapers To Support The Administration, But I Am Asking Your Help In The Tremendous Task Of Informing And Alerting The American People. For I Have Complete Confidence In The Response And Dedication Of Our Citizens Whenever They Are Fully Informed.

And When At Some Future Date The High Court Of History Sits In Judgment On Each Of Us, Recording Whether In Our Brief Span Of Service We Fulfilled Our Responsibilities To The State, Our Success Or Failure, In Whatever Office We Hold, Will Be Measured By The Answers To Four Questions: First, Were We Truly Men Of Courage... Second, Were We Truly Men Of Judgment... Third, Were We Truly Men Of Integrity... Finally, Were We Truly Men Of Dedication?-

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

There Is, Of Course, A Legitimate Argument For Some Limitation Upon Immigration. We No Longer Need Settlers For Virgin Lands, And Our Economy Is Expanding More Slowly Than In The Nineteenth And Early Twentieth Centuries.

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

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

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

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

At The Start Of 2005 The Idea Of Downloading A Song To A Mobile Phone Was An Idea, By The End Of The Year It Was A Reality.

Economic Growth Without Social Progress Lets The Great Majority Of The People Remain In Poverty, While A Privileged Few Reap The Benefits Of Rising Abundance.

Only In Winter Can You Tell Which Trees Are Truly Green. Only When The Winds Of Adversity Blow Can You Tell Whether An Individual Or A Country Has Steadfastness.

A Nation That Is Afraid To Let Its People Judge The Truth And Falsehood In An Open Market Is A Nation That Is Afraid Of Its People.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

Moral Courage Is More A Rare Commodity Than Bravery In A Battle Or Great Intelligence.

Unconditional War Can No Longer Lead To Unconditional Victory. It Can No Longer Serve To Settle Disputes. It Can No Longer Concern The Great Powers Alone. For A Nuclear Disaster, Spread By Wind And Water And Fear, Could Well Engulf The Great And The Small, The Rich And The Poor, The Committed And The Uncommitted Alike. Mankind Must Put An End To War--or War Will Put An End To Mankind.

In That Case, There Is No Time To Lose. Plant It This Afternoon!

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

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

The Time Is Not Far Off When Many Nations In Many Parts Of The World Of Many Political Shades And Commitments Will Possess Nuclear Or Even Thermonuclear Weapons.

Sometimes Party Loyalty Asks Too Much.

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