John F. Kennedy

“Anyone who is honestly seeking a job and can't find it, deserves the attention of the United States government, and the people.”

“The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.”

“A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on. Ideas have endurance without death.”

“Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. [Quoting Reverend Phillips Brooks, during Remarks at Presidential Prayer Breakfast, February 7 1963]”

“The great enemy of truth is very often not the lie--deliberate, contrived and dishonest--but the myth--persistent, persuasive and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the cliches of our fo...”

“They follow the Hitler line - no matter how big the lie; repeat it often enough and the masses will regard it as the truth.”

“Liberty without Learning is always in peril and Learning without Liberty is always in vain.”

“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 requ...”

“I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute - where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minist...”

“I really don't know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it's because in addition to the fact that the sea changes, and the light changes, and ships change, i...”

“The fierce beauty and proud independence of this great bird symbolizes the strength and freedom of America. But as latter-day citizens we shall fail our trust if we permit the eagle to disap...”

“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 librar...”

“[Public] libraries should be open to all—except the censor. [Response to questionnaire in Saturday Review, October 29 1960]”

“Our progress as a nation can be not swifter than our progress in education.”

“The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty, and all forms of human life.”

“I am the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris, and I have enjoyed it.”

“I hope that no American will waste his franchise and throw away his vote by voting either for me or against me solely on account of my religious affiliation. It is not relevant.”

“No one has been barred on account of his race from fighting or dying for America, there are no white or colored signs on the foxholes or graveyards of battle.”

“To state the facts frankly is not to despair the future nor indict the past. The prudent heir takes careful inventory of his legacies and gives a faithful accounting to those whom he owes an...”

“There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.”