Top 500 John F. Kennedy Quotes (2023 Update)
Page 9 of 10

401. “I think ‘Hail to the Chief’ has a nice ring to it.”

— John F. Kennedy

402. “If at times our actions seem to make life difficult for others, it is only because history has made life difficult for us all.”

— John F. Kennedy

403. “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.”

— John F. Kennedy

404. “For, in a democracy, every citizen, regardless of his interest in politics, ‘holds 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.”

— John F. Kennedy

405. “There is, in addition to a courage with which men die; a courage by which men must live.”

— John F. Kennedy

406. “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.”

— John F. Kennedy

407. “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.”

— John F. Kennedy

408. “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.”

— John F. Kennedy

409. “We must start now to provide additional stimulus to the modernization of American industrial plants I shall propose to the Congress a new tax incentive for businesses to expand their normal investment in plant and equipment.”

— John F. Kennedy

410. “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.”

— John F. Kennedy

411. “The fact that we live in a world that moves crisis by crisis does not make a growing interest in outdoor activities frivolous, or ample provision for them unworthy of the nation’s concern.”

— John F. Kennedy

412. “The only valid test of leadership is the ability to lead, and lead vigorously.”

— John F. Kennedy

413. “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.”

— John F. Kennedy

414. “Israel was not created in order to disappear. Israel will endure and flourish.”

— John F. Kennedy

415. “There has also been a change – a slippage – in our intellectual and moral strength. Seven lean years of drouth and famine have withered a field of ideas.”

— John F. Kennedy

416. “Whether they be young in spirit, or young in age, the members of the Democratic Party must never lose that youthful zest for new ideas and for a better world, which has made us great.”

— John F. Kennedy

417. “Science contributes to our culture in many ways, as a creative intellectual activity in its own right, as the light which has served to illuminate man’s place in the universe, and as the source of understanding of man’s own nature.”

— John F. Kennedy

418. “The basis of effective government is public confidence.”

— John F. Kennedy

419. “A medical revolution has extended the life of our elder citizens without providing the dignity and security those later years deserve.”

— John F. Kennedy

420. “The poet and the politician have this in common: their greatness depends on the courage with which they face the challenges of life.”

— John F. Kennedy

421. “I must say that though other days may not be so bright, as we look toward the future, that the brightest days will continue to be those we spent with you here in Ireland.”

— John F. Kennedy

422. “No government or social system is so evil that its people must be considered as lacking in virtue.”

— John F. Kennedy

423. “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.”

— John F. Kennedy

424. “Freedom is not merely a word or an abstract theory, but the most effective instrument for advancing the welfare of man.”

— John F. Kennedy

425. “I can evade questions without help; what I need is answers.”

— John F. Kennedy

426. “The Federal Budget can and should be made an instrument of prosperity and stability, not a deterrent to recovery.”

— John F. Kennedy

427. “Neither smiles nor frowns, neither good intentions nor harsh words, are a substitute for strength.”

— John F. Kennedy

428. “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.”

— John F. Kennedy

429. “There is, of course, a legitimate argument for some limitation upon immigration. We no longer need settlers for virgin lands, and our economy is expanding more slowly than in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.”

— John F. Kennedy

430. “To each of us is entrusted the heavy responsibility of guiding the affairs of a democratic nation founded on Christian ideals.”

— John F. Kennedy

431. “Suspicion on one side breeds suspicion on the other, and new weapons beget counter-weapons.”

— John F. Kennedy

432. “My brother Bob doesn’t want to be in government – he promised Dad he’d go straight.”

— John F. Kennedy

433. “Israel will endure and flourish. It is the child of hope and the home of the brave.”

— John F. Kennedy

434. “We shall be judged more by what we do at home than what we preach abroad.”

— John F. Kennedy

435. “Do you realize the responsibility I carry? I’m the only person standing between Richard Nixon and the White House.”

— John F. Kennedy

436. “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.”

— John F. Kennedy

437. “While we shall negotiate freely, we shall not negotiate freedom.”

— John F. Kennedy

438. “Peace does not rest in charters and covenants alone. It lies in the hearts and minds of the people.”

— John F. Kennedy

439. “Above all, we are coming to understand that the arts incarnate the creativity of a free people.”

— John F. Kennedy

440. “The complacent, the self-indulgent, the soft societies are about to be swept away with the debris of history.”

— John F. Kennedy

441. “The great free nations of the world must take control of our monetary problems if these problems are not to take control of us.”

— John F. Kennedy

442. “I know my Republican friends were glad to see my wife feeding an elephant in India. She gave him sugar and nuts. But of course the elephant wasn’t satisfied.”

— John F. Kennedy

443. “While much remains to be done to achieve full equality of economic opportunity-for the average woman worker earns only 60 percent of the average wage for men-this legislation is a significant step forward.”

— John F. Kennedy

444. “The function and responsibility of the President is to set before the American people the unfinished business, the things we must do if we are going to succeed as a nation.”

— John F. Kennedy

445. “The science of weapons and war has made us all one world and one human race with one common destiny.”

— John F. Kennedy

446. “There comes a point where you see no evidence that the carrot and diplomacy are working.”

— John F. Kennedy

447. “We hold the view that the people make the best judgment in the long run.”

— John F. Kennedy

448. “I see little more important to the future of our country and our civilization than the full recognition of the place of the artist.”

— John F. Kennedy

449. “Abroad, the balance of power is shifting. There are new and more terrible weapons – new and uncertain nations – new pressures of population and deprivation.”

— John F. Kennedy

450. “The United States of America has no intention of finishing second in space. This effort is expensive-but it pays its way for freedom and for America.”

— John F. Kennedy