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You Do Not Take A Person Who, For Years, Has Been Hobbled By Chains And Liberate Him, Bring Him Up To The Starting Line Of A Race And Then Say, "you Are Free To Compete With All The Others," And Still Justly Believe That You Have Been Completely Fair. We Seek Not Just Legal Equity But Human Ability, Not Just Equality As A Right And A Theory But Equality As A Fact And Equality As A Result.

-Lyndon B. Johnson

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You Do Not Take

Lyndon B. Johnson

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You Do Not Take A Person Who, For Years, Has Been Hobbled By Chains And Liberate Him, Bring Him Up To The Starting Line Of A Race And Then Say, "you Are Free To Compete With All The Others," And Still Justly Believe That You Have Been Completely Fair. We Seek Not Just Legal Equity But Human Ability, Not Just Equality As A Right And A Theory But Equality As A Fact And Equality As A Result.

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Our Numbers Have Increased In Vietnam Because The Aggression Of Others Has Increased In Vietnam. There Is Not, And There Will Not Be, A Mindless Escalation.

I Won't Have You Electioneering On My Doorstep. Every Time You Get In Trouble In Parliament You Run Over Here With Your Shirttail Hanging Out.

Light At The End Of The Tunnel? We Don't Even Have A Tunnel; We Don't Even Know Where The Tunnel Is.

Conservation Is Ethically Sound. It Is Rooted In Our Love Of The Land, Our Respect For The Rights Of Others, Our Devotion To The Rule Of Law.

What Convinces Is Conviction. Believe In The Argument You're Advancing. If You Don't You're As Good As Dead. The Other Person Will Sense That Something Isn't There, And No Chain Of Reasoning, No Matter How Logical Or Elegant Or Brilliant, Will Win Your Case For You.

Every Citizen, Regardless Of His Race, Creed, Or Color, Is Entitled To Equal Justice.

...where Legitimate Opportunities Are Closed, Illegitimate Opportunities Are Seized. Whatever Opens Opportunity And Hope Will Help To Prevent Crime And Foster Responsibility.

I Once Told Nixon That The Presidency Is Like Being A Jackass Caught In A Hail Storm. You've Got To Just Stand There And Take It.

The Crotch, Down Where Your Nuts Hang, Is Always A Little Too Tight.

Watch Their Hands, Watch Their Eyes. Read Eyes. No Matter What A Man Is Saying To You, It's Not As Important As What You Can Read In His Eyes. The Most Important Thing A Man Has To Tell You Is What He's Not Telling You; The Most Important Thing He Has To Say Is What He's Trying Not To Say.

In A Nation Of Millions And A World Of Billions, The Individual Is Still The First And Basic Agent Of Change.

'human History, ' H.g. Wells Once Wrote, 'becomes More And More A Race Between Education And Catastrophe.' You And I Cannot Be Indifferent To The Outcome Of That Race. We Care Deeply About The Winner. Because We Do Care So Deeply About The Winner, That Is Why We Are All In The East Room Of The White House Today.

The Land Flourished Because It Was Fed From So Many Sources--because It Was Nourished By So Many Cultures And Traditions And Peoples.

This Is A Moment That I Deeply Wish My Parents Could Have Lived To Share. My Father Would Have Enjoyed What You Have So Generously Said Of Me-and My Mother Would Have Believed It.

Education Is The Key To Opportunity In Our Society, And The Equality Of Educational Opportunity Must Be The Birthright Of Every Citizen.

I'm The Only President You've Got.

Education Will Not Cure All The Problems Of Society, But Without It No Cure For Any Problem Is Possible.

I'll Have Those N**gers Voting Democratic For The Next 200 Years.

Every Man Has A Right To A Saturday Night Bath.

There Are Two Kinds Of Speeches: The Mother Hubbard Speech, Which, Like The Garment, Covers Everything But Touches Nothing, And The French Bathing Suit Speech, Which Covers Only The Essential Points.

Doing The Right Thing Is Not The Problem. Knowing What The Right Thing Is, That's The Challenge.

We Will Not Have Served The Water Needs Of Americans If We Meet Only The Requirements Of Today's Population. A Prudent Nation Must Look Ahead And Plan For Tomorrow.

So Here Is The Great Society. It's The Time - And It's Going To Be Soon - When Nobody In This Country Is Poor.

Presidents Quickly Realize That While A Single Act Might Destroy The World They Live In, No One Single Decision Can Make Life Suddenly Better Or Can Turn History Around For The Good.

It Is Always A Strain When People Are Being Killed. I Don't Think Anybody Has Held This Job Who Hasn't Felt Personally Responsible For Those Being Killed.

Reporters Are Like Puppets. They Simply Respond To The Pull Of The Most Powerful Strings.

Every Old Man Complains Of The Growing Depravity Of The World, Of The Petulance And Insolence Of The Rising Generation. He Recounts The Decency And Regularity Of Former Times, And Celebrates The Discipline And Sobriety Of The Age In Which His Youth Was Passed; A Happy Age Which Is Now No More To Be Expected, Since Confusion Has Broken In Upon The World, And Thrown Down All The Boundaries Of Civility And Reverence.

So Far Are We Generally From Thinking What We Often Say Of The Shortness Of Life, That At The Time When It Is Necessarily Shortest We Form Projects Which We Delay To Execute, Indulge Such Expectations As Nothing But Along Train Of Events Can Gratify, And Suffer Those Passions To Gain Upon Us Which Are Only Excusable In The Prime Of Life.

I Don't Have Any Handicap. I Am All Handicap.

I Believe In The American Tradition Of Separation Of Church And State Which Is Expressed In The First Amendment To The Constitution. By My Office - And By Personal Conviction - I Am Sworn To Uphold That Tradition.

It Is The Genius Of Our Constitution That Under Its Shelter Of Enduring Institutions And Rooted Principles There Is Ample Room For The Rich Fertility Of American Political Invention.

We Must Not Only Protect The Country Side And Save It From Destruction, We Must Restore What Has Been Destroyed And Salvage The Beauty And Charm Of Our Cities ... Once Our Natural Splendor Is Destroyed, It Can Never Be Recaptured. And Once Man Can No Longer Walk With Beauty Or Wonder At Nature, His Spirit Will Wither And His Sustenance Be Wasted.

The Exercise Of Power In This Century Has Meant For All Of Us In The United States Not Arrogance, But Agony.

He That In The Latter Part Of His Life Too Strictly Inquires What He Has Done, Can Very Seldom Receive From His Own Heart Such An Account As Will Give Him Satisfaction.

I Feel Like I Just Grabbed A Big Juicy Worm With A Right Sharp Hook In The Middle Of It.

There Is No Constitutional Issue Here. The Command Of The Constitution Is Plain. There Is No Moral Issue. It Is Wrong - Deadly Wrong - To Deny Any Of Your Fellow Americans The Right To Vote In This Country. There Is No Issue Of States' Rights Or National Rights. There Is Only The Struggle For Human Rights.

Emancipation Was A Proclamation, But Not A Fact.

The Law Cannot Save Those Who Deny It But Neither Can The Law Serve Any Who Do Not Use It. The History Of Injustice And Inequality Is A History Of Disuse Of The Law.

The American City Should Be A Collection Of Communities Where Every Member Has A Right To Belong. It Should Be A Place Where Every Man Feels Safe On His Streets And In The House Of His Friends.

The Prospect Of Penury In Age Is So Gloomy And Terrifying That Every Man Who Looks Before Him Must Resolve To Avoid It; And It Must Be Avoided Generally By The Science Of Sparing. For, Though In Every Age There Are Some Who, By Bold Adventures, Or By Favorable Accidents, Rise Suddenly To Riches, Yet It Is Dangerous To Indulge Hopes Of Such Rare Events; And The Bulk Of Mankind Must Owe Their Affluence To Small And Gradual Profits, Below Which Their Expense Must Be Resolutely Reduced.

In Our Home There Was Always Prayer - Aloud, Proud And Unapologetic.

Ambition Is An Uncomfortable Companion Many Times. He Creates A Discontent With Present Surroundings And Achievements; He Is Never Satisfied But Always Pressing Forward To Better Things In The Future. Restless, Energetic, Purposeful, It Is Ambition That Makes Of The Creature A Real Man.

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I May Not Worry As Much As Prime Minister Eshkol Does About Israel, But I Worry As Deeply.

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One Lesson You Better Learn If You Want To Be In Politics Is That You Never Go Out On A Golf Course And Beat The President.

If We Quit Vietnam, Tomorrow We'll Be Fighting In Hawaii, And Next Week We'll Have To Fight In San Francisco.

It Will Help At Every State Along The Road To Learning. For The Pre-school Years We Will Help Needy Children Become Aware Of The Excitement Of Learning.

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All That Hubert Needs Over There Is A Gal To Answer The Phone And A Pencil With An Eraser On It.

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...in The Decline Of Life Shame And Grief Are Of Short Duration; Whether It Be That We Bear Easily What We Have Borne Long; Or That, Finding Ourselves In Age Less Regarded, We Less Regard Others; Or, That We Look With Slight Regard Upon Afflictions To Which We Know That The Hand Of Death Is About To Put An End.

We Must Change To Master Change.

They Call Upon Us To Supply American Boys To Do The Job That Asian Boys Should Do.

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While You're Saving Your Face, You're Losing Your Ass.

Doing What's Right Isn't The Problem. It Is Knowing What's Right.

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The Last Thing I Wanted To Do Was To Be A Wartime President.

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This Is Not A Jungle War, But A Struggle For Freedom On Every Front Of Human Activity.

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This Right To Vote Is The Basic Right Without Which All Others Are Meaningless. It Gives People, People As Individuals, Control Over Their Own Destinies.

I Don't Believe I'll Ever Get Credit For Anything I Do In Foreign Affairs, No Matter How Successful It Is, Because I Didn't Go To Harvard.

First, This Law - The National Defense Education Act - Ended Years And Years Of Debate About One Controversial Question: 'shall The Federal Government, With All Its Massive Resources, Get Directly Involved In Aiding American Education?' The Answer This Law Gave Was A Loud 'yes!' - And Thus We Paved The Way For A New Era Of Support For Education In America. This Law, In Fact, Helped Make Possible More Than 50 New Education Laws Passed In My Administration.

The Purposeful Many Need Not And Will Not Bow To The Willful Few.

I'm Willin' For Any Solution - Religious, Political. I'm Not Going To Keep Offerin' To Negotiate So Much Because They Turn Us Down Each Time. It Indicates A Weakness On Our Part.

If One Morning I Walked On Top Of The Water Across The Potomac River, The Headline That Afternoon Would Read: 'president Can't Swim.'

There Is But One Way For A President To Deal With Congress, And That Is Continuously, Incessantly, And Without Interruption. If It Is Really Going To Work, The Relationship Has Got To Be Almost Incestuous.

It (the Heart) Is Supposed In Popular Language, To Be The Seat Sometimes, Of Courage, Sometimes Of Affection, Sometimes Of Honesty, Or Baseness.

Not Merely A Nation But A Nation Of Nations.

United States Of America

But More Classrooms And More Teachers Are Not Enough. We Must Seek An Educational System Which Grows In Excellence As It Grows In Size. This Means Better Training For Our Teachers. It Means Preparing Youth To Enjoy Their Hours Of Leisure As Well As Their Hours Of Labor. It Means Exploring New Techniques Of Teaching, To Find New Ways To Stimulate The Love Of Learning And The Capacity For Creation.

A Few Years Make Such Havoc In Human Generations That We Soon See Ourselves Deprived Of Those With Whom We Entered The World, And Whom The Participation Of Pleasures Or Fatigues Had Endeared To Our Remembrance.

Education Is 'the Guardian Genius Of Our Democracy.' Nothing Really Means More To Our Future, Not Our Military Defenses, Not Our Missiles Or Our Bombers, Not Our Production Economy, Not Even Our Democratic System Of Government. For All Of These Are Worthless If We Lack The Brain Power To Support And Sustain Them.

We Come To Reason, Not To Dominate. We Do Not Seek To Have Our Way, But To Find A Common Way.

There Is No Excuse-and We Should Call A Spade A Spade-for Chemical Companies And Oil Refineries Using Our Major Rivers As Pipelines For Toxic Waste. There Is No Excuse For Communities To Use Other People's Rivers As A Dump For Their Raw Sewage.

The United States Stands By Its Friends. Israel Is One Of Its Friends Peace Can Be Based Only On Agreement Between The Parties And Agreement Can Be Achieved Only Through Negotiations Between Them. The United States Will Not Impose The Terms Of Peace. The United States Is Prepared To Supply Military Equipment Necessary To Support The Efforts Of Friendly Governments, Like Israel's, To Defend The Safety Of Their People.

Our Most Tragic Error May Have Been Our Inability To Establish A Rapport And A Confidence With The Press And Television With The Communication Media. I Don't Think The Press Has Understood Me.

An Unfolding Technology Has Increased Our Economic Strength And Added To The Convenience Of Our Lives. But That Same Technology-we Know Now-carries Danger With It. From The Great Smoke Stacks Of Industry And From The Exhausts Of Motors And Machines, 130 Million Tons Of Soot, Carbon And Grime Settle Over The People And Shroud The Nation's Cities Each Year. From Towns, Factories, And Stockyards, Wastes Pollute Our Rivers And Streams, Endangering The Waters We Drink And Use.

I'm A Powerful S.o.b., You Know That?

This Generation Has Altered The Composition Of The Atmosphere On A Global Scale Through Radioactive Materials And A Steady Increase In Carbon Dioxide From The Burning Of Fossil Fuels. Entire Regional Airsheds, Crop Plant Environments, And River Basins Are Heavy With Noxious Materials. Motor Vehicles And Home Heating Plants, Municipal Dumps And Factories Continually Hurl Pollutants Into The Air We Breathe. Each Day Almost 50,000 Tons Of Unpleasant, And Sometimes Poisonous, Sulfur Dioxide Are Added To The Atmosphere, And Our Automobiles Produce Almost 300,000 Tons Of Other Pollutants.

Every American Citizen Must Have An Equal Right To Vote. There Is No Reason Which Can Excuse The Denial Of That Right. There Is No Duty Which Weighs More Heavily On Us Than The Duty We Have To Ensure That Right.

As We Maintain The Vigil Of Peace, We Must Remember That Justice Is A Vigil, Too - A Vigil We Must Keep In Our Own Streets And Schools And Among The Lives Of All Our People - So That Those Who Died Here On Their Native Soil Shall Not Have Died In Vain.

The American City Should Be A Collection Of Communities Where Every Member Has A Right To Belong. It Should Be A Place Where Every Man Feels Safe On His Streets And In The House Of His Friends. It Should Be A Place Where Each Individual's Dignity And Self-respect Is Strengthened By The Respect And Affection Of His Neighbors. It Should Be A Place Where Each Of Us Can Find The Satisfaction And Warmth Which Comes From Being A Member Of The Community Of Man. This Is What Man Sought At The Dawn Of Civilization. It Is What We Seek Today.

I Am A Freeman, An American, A United States Senator, And A Democrat, In That Order.

Effective Law Enforcement And Social Justice Must Be Pursued Together, As The Foundation Of Our Efforts Against Crime.

You Aren't Learning Anything When You're Talking.

If One Little Old General In Shirt Sleeves Can Take Saigon, Think About 200 Million Chinese Comin' Down Those Trails. No Sir, I Don't Want To Fight Them.

I Cannot Say And No Man Could Say That No More Will Be Asked Of Us.

Every Night Before I Turn Out The Lights To Sleep, I Ask Myself This Question: Have I Done Everything That I Can.... Have I Done Enough?

For Every Generation, There Is A Destiny. For Some, History Decides. For This Generation, The Choice Must Be Our Own. [...] Our Destiny In The Midst Of Change Will Rest On The Unchanged Character Of Our People, And On Their Faith.

Any Man Who's Not Willing To Take Half A Loaf In A Negotiation, Well, That Man Never Went To Bed Hungry.

Every Citizen Will Be Able, In His Productive Years When He Is Earning, To Insure Himself Against The Ravages Of Illness In His Old Age.

Let No One Ever Think For A Moment That National Debate Means National Division.

And Americans Have Always Stood Ready To Pay The Cost In Energy And Treasure Which Are Needed To Make Those Goals A Reality.

I Have Learned That Only Two Things Are Necessary To Keep One's Wife Happy. First, Let Her Think She's Having Her Own Way. And Second, Let Her Have It.

Hug Your Friends Tight, But Your Enemies Tighter ? Hug ?em So Tight They Can?t Wiggle.

You Have Your Own Difficulties. We Watch, With Friendly Confidence In Your Capacity To Merge Differences In The Grand Dream Of Canadian Design.

Each Year More Than 100,000 High School Graduates, With Proved Ability, Do Not Enter College Because They Cannot Afford It. And If We Cannot Educate Today's Youth, What Will We Do In 1970 When Elementary Enrollment Will Be 5 Million Greater Than 1960? And High School Enrollment Will Rise By 5 Million. College Enrollment Will Increase By More Than 3 Million.

For This Is What America Is All About. It Is The Uncrossed Desert And The Unclimbed Ridge. It Is The Star That Is Not Reached And The Harvest That Is Sleeping In The Unplowed Ground.

In The Great Society, Work Shall Be An Outlet For Mans Interests And Desires. Each Individual Shall Have Full Opportunity To Use His Capacities In Employment Which Satisfies Personally And Contributes Generally To The Quality Of The Nations Life.

Knowledge Is Of Two Kinds: We Know A Subject Itself, Or Know Where To Find It.

No National Sovereignty Rules In Outer Space. Those Who Venture There Go As Envoys Of The Entire Human Race. Their Quest, Therefore, Must Be For All Mankind, And What They Find Should Belong To All Mankind.

I Dont Believe In Labels. I Want To Do The Best I Can, All The Time. I Want To Be Progressive Without Getting Both Feet Off The Ground At The Same Time. I Want To Be Prudent Without Having My Mind Closed To Anything That Is New Or Different. I Have Often Said That I Was Proud That I Was A Free Man First And An American Second, And A Public Servant Third And A Democrat Fourth, In That Order, And I Guess As A Democrat, If I Had To Takeplace A Label On Myself, I Would Want To Be A Progressive Who Is Prudent.

The Noblest Search Is The Search For Excellence.

Today, 8 Million Adult Americans, More Than The Entire Population Of Michigan, Have Not Finished 5 Years Of School. Nearly 20 Million Have Not Finished 8 Years Of School. Nearly 54 Million - More Than One-quarter Of All America - Have Not Even Finished High School.

You Know There Is No One In The World I Would Rather Sleep With Than Yuki.

We Do This In Order To Slow Down Aggression. We Do This To Increase The Confidence Of The Brave People Of South Vietnam Who Have Bravely Born This Brutal Battle For So Many Years With So Many Casualties. And We Do This To Convince The Leaders Of North Vietnam-and All Who Seek To Share Their Conquest-of A Simple Fact: We Will Not Be Defeated. We Will Not Grow Tired. We Will Not Withdraw Either Openly Or Under The Cloak Of A Meaningless Agreement.

I Believe That The Essence Of Government Lies With Unceasing Concern For The Welfare And Dignity And Decency And Innate Integrity Of Life For Every Individual. I Dont Like To Say This And Wish I Didnt Have To Add These Words To Make It Clear But I Willregardless Of Color, Creed, Ancestry, Sex Or Age.

As Man Draws Nearer To The Stars, Why Should He Not Also Draw Nearer To His Neighbor?

John Ain't Been Worth A Damn Since He Started Wearing $300 Suits.

American Politics

The Moon And Other Celestial Bodies Should Be Free For Exploration And Use By All Countries. No Country Should Be Permitted To Advance A Claim Of Sovereignty.

Education Is Not A Problem. Education Is An Opportunity.

History May Well Record That We Served Liberty And Saved Freedom When We Undertook A Crash Program In The Field Of Education . . .. I Hope This Bill Is Only The Forerunner Of Better Things To Come.

We Cannot Have Government For All The People Until We First Make Certain It Is Government Of And By All The People.

I Believe The Destiny Of Your Generation - And Your Nation - Is A Rendezvous With Excellence.

There's Something Special For Everyone To Do. Remember, No Experience Is A Bad Experience Unless You Gain Nothing From It.

A Compassionate Government Keeps Faith With The Trust Of The People And Cherishes The Future Of Their Children. Through Compassion For The Plight Of One Individual, Government Fulfills Its Purpose As The Servant Of All The People.

To Sustain An Environment Suitable For Man, We Must Fight On A Thousand Battlegrounds. Despite All Of Our Wealth And Knowledge, We Cannot Create A Redwood Forest, A Wild River, Or A Gleaming Seashore.

Extremism Is The Pursuit Of The Presidency Is An Unpardonable Vice. Moderation In The Affairs Of The Nation Is The Highest Virtue.

It Is The Excitement Of Becoming - Always Becoming, Trying, Probing, Falling, Resting, And Trying Again- But Always Trying And Always Gaining

This Is Not Johnson's War. This Is America's War. If I Drop Dead Tomorrow, This War Will Still Be With You.

I Am Persuaded That The People Of The World Have No Grievances, One Against The Other. The Hopes And Desires Of A Man Who Tills The Soil Are About The Same Whether He Lives On The Banks Of The Colorado Or On The Banks Of The Danube.

Nothing Comes Free. Nothing. Not Even Good, Especially Not Good.

John F. Kennedy Was The Victim Of The Hate That Was A Part Of Our Country. It Is A Disease That Occupies The Minds Of The Few But Brings Danger To The Many.

A President's Hardest Task Is Not To Do What Is Right, But To Know What Is Right.

Above The Pyramid On The Great Seal Of The United States It Says In Latin: "god Has Favored Our Undertaking." God Will Not Favor Everything That We Do. It Is Rather Our Duty To Divine His Will.

There Are Some, I Know, Who See Beautification As A Frill, As An Extra, Or As Something That Is Luxurious Enough To Postpone. Well, They Make Me Impatient Because I Am Convinced That Beauty And Order In Our Environment Are Not Frills. I Am Convinced That They Are Urgent Necessities Because They Will Determine Whether Our Grandchildren Can Live In A Decent Land Or Whether They Will Be Surrounded By Glittering Junkheaps.

If You Have A Mother-in-law With Only One Eye And She Has It In The Center Of Her Forehead, Don't Keep Her In The Living Room.

Men Who Have Worked Together To Reach The Stars Are Not Likely To Descend Together Into The Depths Of War And Desolation.

Books And Ideas Are The Most Effective Weapons Against Intolerance And Ignorance.

What Convinces Is Conviction.

Our Society Is Illuminated By The Spiritual Insights Of The Hebrew Prophets. America And Israel Have A Common Love Of Human Freedom, And They Have A Common Faith In A Democratic Way Of Life.

Our Partnership Has Been Built On Four Pillars The First Pillar Is Peace. The Second Pillar Is Freedom. The Third Pillar Is Respect. The Fourth Pillar Is Cooperation.

The Fact That A Man Is A Newspaper Reporter Is Evidence Of Some Flaw Of Character.

Second, This Law Has Become A Special Symbol Of Our Nation's Most Important Purpose: To Fulfill The Individual - His Freedom, His Happiness, His Promise.

Success Only Feeds The Appetite Of Aggression.

I Pray We Are Still A Young And Courageous Nation, That We Have Not Grown So Old And So Fat And So Prosperous That All We Can Think About Is To Sit Back With Our Arms Around Our Money Bags. If We Choose To Do That I Have No Doubt That The Smoldering Fires Will Burst Into Flame And Consume Us - Dollars And All.

If You're I Politics And You Can't Tell When You Walk Into A Room Who's For You And Who's Against You, Then You're In The Wrong Line Of Work.

The Family Is The Corner Stone Of Our Society. More Than Any Other Force It Shapes The Attitude, The Hopes, The Ambitions, And The Values Of The Child. And When The Family Collapses It Is The Children That Are Usually Damaged. When It Happens On A Massive Scale The Community Itself Is Crippled.

If We Are To Live Together In Peace, We Must Come To Know Each Other Better.

We Have Talked Long Enough In This Country About Equal Rights. It Is Time Now To Write The Next Chapter - And To Write It In The Books Of Law.

There Are Plenty Of Recommendations On How To Get Out Of Trouble Cheaply And Fast. Most Of Them Come Down To This: Deny Your Responsibility.

Today - Wealthier, More Powerful And More Able Than Ever Before In Our History - Our Nation Can Declare Another Essential Freedom.

America Has Not Always Been Kind To Its Artists And Scholars. Somehow The Scientists Always Seem To Get The Penthouse While The Arts And Humanities Get The Basement.

It Is Not Uncommon For Those Who At Their First Entrance Into The World Were Distinguished For Attainments Or Abilities, To Disappoint The Hopes Which They Had Raised, And To End In Neglect And Obscurity That Life Which They Began In Honour. To The Long Catalogue Of The Inconveniences Of Old Age, Which Moral And Satirical Writers Have So Copiously Displayed, May Be Often Added The Loss Of Fame.

If Government Is To Serve Any Purpose It Is To Do For Others What They Are Unable To Do For Themselves.

Freedom Is Not Enough.

This Administration Here And Now Declares Unconditional War On Poverty.

Unconditional Love

He's A Nice Guy, But He Played Too Much Football With His Helmet Off.

For Me, It Is A Deep Personal Tragedy. I Know That The World Shares The Sorrow That Mrs. Kennedy And Her Family Bear. I Will Do My Best. That Is All I Can Do. I Ask For Your Help - And God's.

In 1790, The Nation Which Had Fought A Revolution Against Taxation Without Representation Discovered That Some Of Its Citizens Weren't Much Happier About Taxation With Representation.

Taxation Without Representation

As It Was 189 Years Ago, So Today The Cause Of America Is A Revolutionary Cause. And I Am Proud This Morning To Salute You As Fellow Revolutionaries. Neither You Nor I Are Willing To Accept The Tyranny Of Poverty, Nor The Dictatorship Of Ignorance, Nor The Despotism Of Ill Health, Nor The Oppression Of Bias And Prejudice And Bigotry. We Want Change. We Want Progress. We Want It Both Abroad And At Homeand We Aim To Get It.

Bias And Prejudice

There Is Nothing That Exasperates People More Than A Display Of Superior Ability Or Brilliance In Conversation. They Seem Pleased At The Time, But Their Envy Makes Them Curse The Conversationalist In Their Heart.

It's The Price Of Leadership To Do The Thing You Believe Has To Be Done At The Time It Must Be Done.

The Great Society Is A Place Where Men Are More Concerned With The Quality Of Their Goods Than With The Quantity Of Their Goods.

Art Is A Nation's Most Precious Heritage. For It Is In Our Works Of Art That We Reveal To Ourselves And To Others The Inner Vision Which Guides Us As A Nation. And Where There Is No Vision, The People Perish.

Poverty Must Not Be A Bar To Learning And Learning Must Offer An Escape From Poverty.

The Presidency Has Made Every Man Who Occupied It, No Matter How Small, Bigger Than He Was; And No Matter How Big, Not Big Enough For Its Demands.

You Do Not Take A Person Who, For Years, Has Been Hobbled By Chains And Liberate Him, Bring Him Up To The Starting Line Of A Race And Then Say, "you Are Free To Compete With All The Others," And Still Justly Believe That You Have Been Completely Fair. We Seek Not Just Legal Equity But Human Ability, Not Just Equality As A Right And A Theory But Equality As A Fact And Equality As A Result.

I Want Every Family In America To Have A Carpet On The Floor And A Picture On The Wall. After Bread, You've Got To Have A Picture On The Wall.

Nothing Is More Unjust, However Common, Than To Charge With Hypocrisy Him That Expresses Zeal For Those Virtues Which He Neglects To Practice; Since He May Be Sincerely Convinced Of The Advantages Of Conquering His Passions Without Having Yet Obtained The Victory As A Man May Be Confident Of The Advantages Of A Voyage Or A Journey, Without Having Courage Or Industry To Undertake It, And May Honestly Recommend To Others Those Attempts Which He Neglects Himself.

How Incredible It Is That In This Fragile Existence We Should Hate And Destroy One Another. There Are Possibilities Enough For All Who Will Abandon Mastery Over Others To Pursue Mastery Over Nature. There Is World Enough For All To Seek Their Happiness In Their Own Way.

I Taught School In The Early Days Of My Manhood And I Think I Know Something About Mothers. There Is A Thread Of Aspiration That Runs Strong In Them. It Is The Fiber That Has Formed The Most Unselfish Creatures Who Inhabit This Earth. They Want Three Things Only; For Their Children To Be Fed, To Be Healthy, And To Make The Most Of Themselves.

Faith Builds, Cynicism Destroys.

There Is No Issue Of States' Rights Or National Rights. There Is Only The Struggle For Human Rights.

Life Is Never Easy. There Is Work To Be Done And Obligations To Be Met - Obligations To Truth, To Justice, And To Liberty.

Inspirational Life

We Preach The Virtues Of Democracy Abroad. We Must Practice Its Duties Here At Home. Voting Is The First Duty Of Democracy.

If There Is One Word That Describes Our Form Of Society In America, It May Be The Word-voluntary.

Most Of All We Need An Education Which Will Create An Educated Mind. This Is A Mind Not Simply A Repository Of Information And Skills, But A Mind That Is A Source Of Creative Skepticism, Characterized By A Willingness To Challenge Old Assumptions And To Be Challenged, A Spaciousness Of Outlook, And Convictions That Are Deeply Held, But Which New Facts And New Experiences Can Always Modify.

New Experiences

Nothing Is More Despicable Than The Old Age Of A Passionate Man. When The Vigour Of Youth Fails Him, And His Amusements Pall With Frequent Repetition, His Occasional Rage Sinks By Decay Of Strength Into Peevishness; That Peevishness, For Want Of Novelty And Variety, Becomes Habitual; The World Falls Off From Around Him, And He Is Left, As Homer Expresses It, To Devour His Own Heart In Solitude And Contempt.

No One Has The Right To Use America's Rivers And America's Waterways, That Belong To All The People. As A Sewer. The Banks Of A River May Belong To One Man Or One Industry Or One State, But The Waters Which Flow Between The Banks Should Belong To All The People.

Our Understanding Of How To Live With One Another Is Still Far Behind Our Knowledge Of How To Destroy One Another.

Come Now. Let Us Reason Together.

Let Us Close The Springs Of Racial Poison. Let Us Pray For Wise And Understanding Hearts. Let Us Lay Aside Irrelevant Differences And Make Our Nation Whole.

Whoever Won't Fight When The President Calls Him, Deserves To Be Kicked Back In His Hole And Kept There.

The Best Fertilizer For A Piece Of Land Is The Footprints Of Its Owner.

But We Have Not Used Our Waters Well. Our Major Rivers Are Defiled By Noxious Debris. Pollutants From Cities And Industries Kill The Fish In Our Streams. Many Waterways Are Covered With Oil Slicks And Contain Growths Of Algae That Destroy Productive Life And Make The Water Unfit For Recreation. "polluted Water-no Swimming" Has Become A Familiar Sign On Too Many Beaches And Rivers. A Lake That Has Served Many Generations Of Men Now Can Be Destroyed By Man In Less Than One Generation.

When A Person Finds Themselves Predisposed To Complaining About How Little They Are Regarded By Others, Let Them Reflect How Little They Have Contributed To The Happiness Of Others.

The Guns And The Bombs, The Rockets And The Warships, Are All Symbols Of Human Failure.

The Secretary Of Labor Is In Charge Of Finding You A Job, The Secretary Of The Treasury Is In Charge Of Taking Half The Money You Make Away From You, And The Attorney General Is In Charge Of Suing You For The Other Half.

In The Last Few Decades Entire New Categories Of Waste Have Come To Plague And Menace The American Scene. Pollution Is Growing At A Rapid Rate. Pollution Destroys Beauty And Menaces Health. It Cuts Down On Efficiency, Reduces Property Values And Raises Taxes. Almost All These Wastes And Pollutions Are The Result Of Activities Carried On For The Benefit Of Man. A Prime National Goal Must Be An Environment That Is Pleasing To The Senses And Healthy To Live In. Our Government Is Already Doing Much In This Field. We Have Made Significant Progress. But More Must Be Done.

The Vote Is The Most Powerful Instrument Ever Devised By Man For Breaking Down Injustice And Destroying The Terrible Walls Which Imprison Men Because They Are Different From Other Men.

I Believe We Can Continue The Great Society While We Fight In Vietnam.

Four. That's What I Want You To Remember. If You Don't Get Your Idea Across In The First Four Minutes, You Won't Do It. Four Sentences To A Paragraph. Four Letters To A Word. The Most Important Words In The English Language All Have Four Letters. Home. Love. Food. Land. Peace. . .i Know Peace Has Five Letters, But Any Damn Fool Knows It Should Have Four.

But, Most Of All, The Great Society Is Not A Safe Harbor, A Resting Place, A Final Objective, A Finished Work. It Is A Challenge Constantly Renewed, Beckoning Us Toward A Destiny Where The Meaning Of Our Lives Matches The Marvelous Products Of Our Labor.

I Know - From Personal Experience - That Abiding Values And Abundant Visions Are Learned In The Homes Of Our People.

We Decided That Our First Job Was To Help The Schools Serving The Children From The Very Lowest Income Groups. Those Families Constitute The Number One Burden, The Number One Burden In This Nation On The School Systems.

Not Now, Or Not There, Or Too Much, Or Not At All.

Scarcely Any Law Of Our Redeemer Is More Openly Transgressed, Or More Industriously Evaded, Than That By Which He Commands His Followers To Forgive Injuries. Samuel

In Modern Warfare There Are No Victors; There Are Only Survivors.

At The Desk Where I Sit, I Have Learned One Great Truth. The Answer For All Our National Problems - The Answer For All The Problems Of The World - Come To A Single Word. That Word Is "education."

Yesterday Is Not Ours To Recover, But Tomorrow Is Ours To Win Or Lose.

I Don't Think That I Need To Tell You How Important To The Outcome Of That Race Is The Education Legislation That Is Now Before The Congress. I Hope That It Is Important Enough That Most Of You Have Studied It In Detail. I Hope That You Understand That It Represents The Very Best Thinking That The Leading Educators Of This Country Can Produce.

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Kathie Lee Gifford

James Russell Lowell

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