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When I Ran For Presidency Of The United States, I Knew That This Country Faced Serious Challenges, But I Could Not Realize - Nor Could Any Man Realize Who Does Not Bear The Burdens Of This Office - How Heavy And Constant Would Be Those Burdens

-John F. Kennedy

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When I Ran For

John F. Kennedy

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When I Ran For Presidency Of The United States, I Knew That This Country Faced Serious Challenges, But I Could Not Realize - Nor Could Any Man Realize Who Does Not Bear The Burdens Of This Office - How Heavy And Constant Would Be Those Burdens

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

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.

And If We Are To Open Employment Opportunities In This Country For Members Of All Races And Creeds, Then The Federal Government Must Set An Example. The President Himself Must Set The Key Example. I Am Not Going To Promise A Cabinet Post Or Any Other Post To Any Race Or Ethnic Group. That Is Racism In Reverse At Its Worst. So I Do Not Promise To Consider Race Or Religion In My Appointments If I Am Successful. I Promise Only That I Will Not Consider Them.

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.

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

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.

Once You Say You're Going To Settle For Second, That's What Happens To You In Life.

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.

In Seeking The Help Of The Congress And Our Countrymen, I Pledged No Easy Answers. I Pledged, And Asked, Only Toil And Dedication. These The Congress And The People Have Given In Good Measure.

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

The Only Significance Of Analyzing The Past Is That It Does Give Us Some Key To The Future.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

The Stories Of Past Courage... Can Offer Hope, They Can Provide Inspiration. But They Cannot Supply Courage Itself. For This Each Man Must Look Into His Own Soul.

According To The Ancient Chinese Proverb, A Journey Of A Thousand Miles Must Begin With A Single Step.

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

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.

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

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.

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

The Best Road To Progress Is Freedom's Road.

Failure Has No Friends.

If We Are To Go Only Halfway Or Reduce Our Sights In The Face Of Difficulty... It Would Be Better To Not Go At All.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

When Power Leads Man Toward Arrogance, Poetry Reminds Him Of His Limitations. When Power Narrows The Area Of Man's Concern, Poetry Reminds Him Of The Richness And Diversity Of Existence. When Power Corrupts, Poetry Cleanses.

The Human Mind Is Our Fundamental Resource.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Washington Is A City Of Southern Efficiency And Northern Charm.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

When My Office Would Require Me To Either Violate My Conscience Or Violate The National Interest, Then I Would Resign The Office; And I Hope Any Conscientious Public Servant Would Do The Same.

Dont Teach My Boy Poetry, An English Mother Recently Wrote The Provost Of Harrow. Dont Teach My Boy Poetry; He Is Going To Stand For Parliament. Well, Perhaps She Was Rightbut If More Politicians Knew Poetry, And More Poets Knew Politics, I Am Convinced The World Would Be A Little Better Place To Live On This Commencement Day Of 1956.

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

If More Politicians Knew Poetry, And More Poets Knew Politics, I Am Convinced The World Would Be A Little Better Place In Which To Live.

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.

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

We Must Never Forget That Art Is Not A Form Of Propaganda; It Is A Form Of Truth.

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

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

I Not Only Could Not Stifle Controversy Among Your Readers.. I Welcome It. This Administration Intends To Be Candid About Its Errors; For As A Wise Man Once Said: "an Error Does Not Become A Mistake Until You Refuse To Correct It." We Intend To Accept Full Responsibility For Our Errors; And We Expect You To Point Them Out When We Miss Them.

There Is A Connection, Hard To Explain Logically But Easy To Feel, Between Achievement In Public Life And Progress In The Arts. The Age Of Pericles Was Also The Age Of Phidias. The Age Of Lorenzo De Medici Was Also The Age Of Leonardo Da Vinci. The Age Of Elizabeth Was Also The Age Of Shakespeare. And The New Frontier For Which I Campaign In Public Life, Can Also Be A New Frontier For American Art.

While We Shall Never Weary In The Defense Of Freedom, Neither Shall We Ever Abandon The Pursuit Of Peace.

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.

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

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

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

Those [presidents] Who Were Strongest Intellectually Were Also Strongest Spiritually.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Be Aware Of Danger-but Recognize The Opportunity

Now Is The Time...for This Nation To Take A Clearly Leading Role In Space Achievement, Which In Many Ways May Hold The Key To Our Future On Earth.

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.

Things Do Not Happen. Things Are Made To Happen.

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.

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.

This Is Not The Land Of My Birth, But It Is The Land For Which I Hold The Greatest Affection, And I Certainly Will Come Back In The Springtime

Success Has Many Fathers.

Our Task Is Not To Fix Blame For The Past, But To Fix The Course For The Future.

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.

Sincerity Is Always Subject To Proof.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

We Stand Today On The Edge Of A New Frontier.

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

I Will Splinter The Cia Into A Thousand Pieces And Scatter It Into The Winds.

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

Wherever There Is Smoke There Is A Good Smoke Machine.

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.

I Believe In An America Where The Rights That I Have Described Are Enjoyed By All, Regardless Of Their Race Or Their Creed Or Their National Origin - Where Every Citizen Is Free To Think And Speak As He Pleases And Write And Worship As He Pleases - And Where Every Citizen Is Free To Vote As He Pleases, Without Instructions From Anyone, His Employer, The Union Leader Or His Clergyman.

When Power Corrupts, Poetry Cleanses

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.

The Labor Movement Is People. Our Unions Have Brought Millions Of Men And Women Together, Made Them Members One Of Another, And Given Them Common Tools For Common Goals. Their Goals Are Goals For All America - And Their Enemies Are The Enemies For Progress. The Two Cannot Be Separated.

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

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.

To Those Whom Much Is Given, Much Is Expected.

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

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

Future Thinking

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

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.

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.

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

Effort And Courage Are Not Enough Without Purpose And Direction.

Those Who Make Peaceful Revolution Impossible Will Make Violent Revolution Inevitable.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

... 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.

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.

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

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

It Is Time For A New Generation Of Leadership, To Cope With New Problems And New Opportunities. For There Is A New World To Be Won.

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.

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

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

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!'

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.

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.

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

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

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.

The Poet And The Politician Have This In Common: Their Greatness Depends On The Courage With Which They Face The Challenges Of Life.

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

Fail Miserably, Achieve Greatly!

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

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

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

I 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

Sometimes It Just Amazes Me How Many People Desperately Want To Protect My Personal Information. Ten Thousand Reflections Hide The True Gem. Those Who Make Peaceful Revolution Impossible Will Make Violent Revolution Inevitable.

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.

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.

While It May Be Theoretically Possible To Demonstrate The Risks Inherent In Any Treaty... The Far Greater Risk To Our Security Are The Risks Of Unrestricted Testing, The Risks Of A Nuclear Arms Race, The Risks Of New Nuclear Powers.

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

Struggle For Freedom. Where People Are Denied The Right Of Choice, Recourse To Such Struggle Is The Only Means Of Achieving Their Liberties.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

I Believe The American People Are More Concerned With A Man's Views And Abilities Than With The Church To Which He Belongs. I Believe The Founding Fathers Meant It When They Provided In Article Vi Of The Constitution That There Should Be No Religious Test For Public Office. And I Believe That The American People Mean To Adhere To Those Principles Today.

War And Hunger And Ignorance And Despair Know No Religious Barriers.

The World Knows That America Will Never Start A War. This Generation Of Americans Has Had Enough Of War And Hate... We Want To Build A World Of Peace Where The Weak Are Secure And The Strong Are Just.

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.

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

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

Not Every Child Has An Equal Talent Or An Equal Ability Or Equal Motivation, But They Should Have The Equal Right To Develop Their Talent And Their Ability And Their Motivation, To Make Something Of Themselves.

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

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.

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.

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

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

Last Year, More Americans Went To Symphonies Than Went To Baseball Games. This May Be Viewed As An Alarming Statistic, But I Think That Both Baseball And The Country Will Endure.

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.

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

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.

We Set Sail On This New Sea Because There Is New Knowledge To Be Gained, And New Rights To Be Won, And They Must Be Won And Used For The Progress Of All People. For Space Science, Like Nuclear Science And Technology, Has No Conscience Of Its Own. Whether It Will Become A Force For Good Or Ill Depends On Man, And Only If The United States Occupies A Position Of Preeminence Can We Help Decide Whether This New Ocean Will Be A Sea Of Peace Or A New Terrifying Theater Of War.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

Those Whom Nature Hath So Joined Together, Let No Man Put Asunder

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

The Most Powerful Single Force In The World Today Is Neither Communism Nor Capitalism, Neither The H-bomb Nor The Guided Missile -- It Is Man's Eternal Desire To Be Free And Independent.

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