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The World Has Been Close To War Before - But Now Man, Who Has Survived All Previous Threats To His Existence, Has Taken Into His Mortal Hands The Power To Exterminate The Entire Species Some Seven Times Over.

-John F. Kennedy

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The World Has Been

John F. Kennedy

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The World Has Been Close To War Before - But Now Man, Who Has Survived All Previous Threats To His Existence, Has Taken Into His Mortal Hands The Power To Exterminate The Entire Species Some Seven Times Over.

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Compromise Does Not Mean Cowardice.

This Is A Great Country And Requires A Good Deal Of All Of Us, So I Can Imagine Nothing More Important Than For All Of You To Continue To Work In Public Affairs And Be Interested In Them, Not Only To Bring Up A Family, But Also Give Part Of Your Time To Your Community, Your State, And Your Country.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

The Kennedy Administration's Public Pronouncements On The Matter Suggested That The Presence Of Soviet Nuclear Missiles In Castro's Cuba Would Represent An Unacceptable Strategic Threat To The United States. . . . This Urgent Transformation Of Cuba Into An Important Strategic Base - By The Presence Of These Large, Long-range, And Clearly Offensive Weapons Of Sudden Mass-destruction - Constitutes An Explicit Threat To The Peace And Security Of All The Americas. . . .

Mass Destruction

The Basis Of Self-government And Freedom Requires The Development Of Character And Self-restraint And Perseverance And The Long View. And These Are Qualities Which Require Many Years Of Training And Education.

A Committee Is Twelve Men Doing The Work Of One.

This Knowledge, The Knowledge That The Physical Well-being Of The Citizen Is An Important Foundation For All Of The Activities Of The Nation, Is As Old As Western Civilization Itself.

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?

A Country Is As Strong, Really, As Its Citizens. And I Think That Mental And Physical Health - Mental And Physical Vigor - Go Hand In Hand.

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.

Failure Has No Friends.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

A Journey To Thousand Miles Begins With One Step

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Be Aware Of Danger-but Recognize The Opportunity

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

Since The Time Of The Ancient Greeks, We Have Always Felt That There Was A Close Relationship Between A Strong, Vital Mind And Physical Fitness.

When Power Corrupts, Poetry Cleanses

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.

It Is Insane That Two Men, Sitting On Opposite Sides Of The World, Should Be Able To Decide To Bring An End To Civilization.

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

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

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.

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

Civility Is Not A Sign Of Weakness.

As Far As The Job Of President Goes, Its Rewarding And I've Given Before This Group The Definition Of Happiness For The Greeks. I'll Define It Again: The Full Use Of Your Powers Along Lines Of Excellence. I Find, Therefore, That The Presidency Provides Some Happiness.

Lofty Words Cannot Construct An Alliance Or Maintain It; Only Concrete Deeds Can Do That.

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

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.

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.

Those Who Dare To Fail Miserably Can Achieve Greatly.

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

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.

... The United States Was Not Built By Those Who Waited And Rested And Wished To Look Behind Them. This Country Was Conquered By Those Who Moved Forward, And So Will Space.

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

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

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.

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

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.

It Takes Two To Make Peace.

The Margin Is Narrow, But The Responsibility Is Clear.

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

Good Intentions

In Addition, The United States Delegation Will Suggest A Series Of Steps To Improve The United Nations Machinery For The Peaceful Settlement Of Disputes... - For Extending The Rule Of International Law. For Peace Is Not Solely A Matter Of Military Or Technical Problems - It Is Primarily A Problem Of Politics And 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.

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.

Finally, I Believe In An America Where Religious Intolerance Will Someday End; Where All Men And All Churches Are Treated As Equal; Where Every Man Has The Same Right To Attend Or Not Attend The Church Of His Choice; Where There Is No Catholic Vote, No Anti-catholic Vote, No Bloc Voting Of Any Kind; And Where Catholics, Protestants And Jews, At Both The Lay And Pastoral Level, Will Refrain From Those Attitudes Of Disdain And Division Which Have So Often Marred Their Works In The Past, And Promote Instead The American Ideal Of Brotherhood.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

I Do Not Belive That Washington Should Do For The People Wha They Can Do For Themselves Through Local And Private Effort.

Our Present Tax System ... Exerts Too Heavy A Drag On Growth ... It Reduces The Financial Incentives For Personal Effort, Investment, And Risk-taking ... The Present Tax Load ... Distorts Economic Judgments And Channels An Undue Amount Of Energy Into Efforts To Avoidtaxliabilities.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Justice Delayed Is Democracy Denied.

In Those Countries Where Income Taxes Are Lower Than In The United States, The Ability To Defer The Payment Of U.s. Tax By Retaining Income In The Subsidiary Companies Provides A Tax Advantage For Companies Operating Through Overseas Subsidiaries That Is Not Available To Companies Operating Solely In The United States. Many American Investors Properly Made Use Of This Deferral In The Conduct Of Their Foreign Investment.

The Best Way To Progress Is The Path Of Freedom.

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.

We Do Not Seek The Unanimity That Comes To Those Who Water Down All Issues To The Lowest Common Denominator - Or To Those Who Conceal Their Differences Behind Fixed Smiles - Or To Those Who Measure Unity By Standards Of Popularity And Affection, Instead Of Trust And Respect. We Are Allies. This Is A Partnership, Not An Empire. We Are Bound To Have Differences And Disappointments - And We Are Equally Bound To Bring Them Out Into The Open, To Settle Them Where They Can Be Settled, And To Respect Each Other's Views When They Cannot Be Settled.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Too Often We... Enjoy The Comfort Of Opinion Without The Discomfort Of Thought.

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.

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

It Is True That My Predecessor Did Not Object, As I Do, To Pictures Of One's Golf Skill In Action. But Neither, On The Other Hand, Did He Ever Bean A Secret Serviceman.

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.

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

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.

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

We Had A Dog Who Was Named Pushinka, Who Was Given To My Father By A Soviet Official. And We Trained That Dog To Slide Down The Slide We Had In The Back Of The White House. Sliding The Dog Down That Slide Is Probably My First Memory.

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

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

If Scientific Discovery Has Not Been An Unalloyed Blessing, If It Has Conferred On Mankind The Power Not Only To Create But Also To Annihilate, It Has At The Same Time Provided Humanity With A Supreme Challenge And A Supreme Testing

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.

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.

The Federal Budget Can And Should Be Made An Instrument Of Prosperity And Stability, Not A Deterrent To Recovery.

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

No Government Or Social System Is So Evil That Its People Must Be Considered As Lacking In Virtue.

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

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

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

Everything Changes But Change Itself.

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

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

Mothers All Want Their Sons To Grow Up To Be President, But They Don't Want Them To Become Politicians In The Process.

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.

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

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

Knowledge Is Power

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

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

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

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.

The Basis Of Effective Government Is Public Confidence.

Ethical Standards

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

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.

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

I Know Few Significant Questions Of Public Policy Which Can Safely Be Confided To Computers. In The End, The Hard Decisions Inescapably Involve Imponderables Of Intuition, Prudence, And Judgment.

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.

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.

Bring The Absolute Power To Destroy Other Nations Under The Absolute Control Of All Nations. Weapons Of War Must Be Abolished Before They Abolish Us...no Longer Is The Quest For Disarmament A Sign Of Weakness, (nor) The Destruction Of Arms A Dream - It Is A Practical Matter Of Life Or Death. The Risks Inherent In Disarmament Pale In Comparison To The Risks Inherent In An Unlimited Arms Race.

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 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.

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.

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

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

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.

I Believe In Human Dignity As The Source Of National Purpose, Human Liberty As The Source Of National Action, The Human Heart As The Source Of National Compassion, And In The Human Mind As The Source Of Our Invention And Our Ideas

I See Little More Important To The Future Of Our Country And Our Civilization Than The Full Recognition Of The Place Of The Artist.

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

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.

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

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

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

A Man May Die, Nations May Rise And Fall, But An Idea Lives On.

It Was Involuntary. They Sank My Boat.

If The Economy Of Today Were Operating Close To Capacity Levels With Little Unemployment, Or If A Sudden Change In Our Military Requirements Should Cause A Scramble For Men And Resources, Then I Would Oppose Tax Reductions As Irresponsible And Inflationary; And I Would Not Hesitate To Recommend A Tax Increase If That Were Necessary.

We Are Inclined To Think That If We Watch A Football Game Or A Baseball Game, We Have Taken Part In It.

I Am Flatly Opposed To Appointment Of An Ambassador To The Vatican. Whatever Advantages It Might Have In Rome - And I'm Not Convinced Of These - They Would Be More Than Offset By The Divisive Effect At Home.

Conformity Is The Jailer Of Freedom And The Enemy Of Growth.

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

Members Of The Congress, The Constitution Makes Us Not Rivals For Power But Partners For Progress. We Are All Trustees For The American People, Custodians Of The American Heritage. It Is My Task To Report The State Of The Union--to Improve It Is The Task Of Us All.

To Those Peoples In The Huts And Villages Of Half The Globe Struggling To Break The Bonds Of Mass Misery, We Pledge Our Best Efforts To Help Them Help Themselves, For Whatever Period Is Required - Not Because The Communists May Be Doing It, Not Because We Seek Their Votes, But Because It Is Right. If A Free Society Cannot Help The Many Who Are Poor, It Cannot Save The Few Who Are Rich.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

Tolerance Implies No Lack Of Commitment To One's Own Beliefs. Rather It Condemns The Oppression Or Persecution Of Others.

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

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

I'm 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.

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.

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.

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

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

Genuine Peace Must Be The Product Of Many Nations, The Sum Of Many Acts. It Must Be Dynamic, Not Static, Changing To Meet The Challenge Of Each New Generation. For Peace Is A Process-a Way Of Solving Problems.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

Wherever There Is Smoke There Is A Good Smoke Machine.

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

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.

Libraries Should Be Open To All - Except The Censor.

Censorship In Books

Food Is Strength, And Food Is Peace, And Food Is Freedom, And Food Is A Helping Hand To People Around The World Whose Good Will And Friendship We Want.

Unconditional War Can No Longer Lead To Unconditional Victory. It Can No Longer Serve To Settle Disputes... Can No Longer Be Of Concern To Great Powers Alone.

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

The War Against Hunger Is Truly Mankind's War Of Liberation.

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

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

When Consumers Purchase More Goods, Plants Use More Of Their Capacity, Men Are Hired Instead Of Laid Off, Investment Increases, And Profits Are High. Corporate Tax Rates Must Also Be Cut To Increase Incentives And The Availability Of Investment Capital.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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