John Fitzgerald Kennedy, often referred to by the initials JFK and Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from January 1961 until his assassination in November 1963. Profoundly inspirational John F. Kennedy quotes on greatness, courage, country, education, and change will challenge the way you think.
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Famous John F. Kennedy Quotes
Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. John F. Kennedy
The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word crisis. One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger but recognize the opportunity. John F. Kennedy
Things do not happen. Things are made to happen. John F. Kennedy
If by a Liberal they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights and their civil liberties someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a Liberal, then I’m proud to say I’m a Liberal. John F. Kennedy
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth. John F. Kennedy
The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened. John F. Kennedy
Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names. John F. Kennedy
Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. John F. Kennedy
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. John F. Kennedy
We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives. John F. Kennedy
Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity. John F. Kennedy
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, it’s 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. John F. Kennedy
The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining. John F. Kennedy
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth. John F. Kennedy
We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch we are going back from whence we came. John F. Kennedy
There is nothing in the record of the past two years when both Houses of Congress have been controlled by the Republican Party which can lead any person to believe that those promises will be fulfilled in the future. They follow the Hitler line no matter how big the lie; repeat it often enough and the masses will regard it as truth. John F. Kennedy
The greater our knowledge increases the more our ignorance unfolds. John F. Kennedy
As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. John F. Kennedy
The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth. John F. Kennedy
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 forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought. John F. Kennedy
Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners, and necessity has made us allies. Those whom God has so joined together, let no man put asunder. John F. Kennedy
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. John F. Kennedy
For in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s futures. And we are all mortal. John F. Kennedy
A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on. Ideas have endurance without death. John F. Kennedy
We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light the candle that can guide us thru that darkness to a safe and sane future. John F. Kennedy
One person can make a difference, and everyone should try. John F. Kennedy
The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic. John F. Kennedy
Liberty without Learning is always in peril and Learning without Liberty is always in vain. John F. Kennedy
When written in Chinese, the word crisis is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity. John F. Kennedy
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. John F. Kennedy
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. John F. Kennedy
We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win. John F. Kennedy
I am the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris, and I have enjoyed it. John F. Kennedy
Without debate, without criticism no administration and no country can succeed and no republic can survive. John F. Kennedy
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. John F. Kennedy
Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and 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 at home and around the world. Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. John F. Kennedy
We must use time as a tool, not as a couch. John F. Kennedy
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. John F. Kennedy
Communism has never come to power in a country that was not disrupted by war or corruption, or both. John F. Kennedy
If not us, who? If not now, when? John F. Kennedy
As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. John F. Kennedy
A man does what he must in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers, and pressures and that is the basis of all human morality. John F. Kennedy
Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought. John F. Kennedy
Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly. John F Kennedy
There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction. John F. Kennedy
Art is the great democrat, calling forth creative genius from every sector of society, disregarding race or religion or wealth or color. John F. Kennedy
Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. John F. Kennedy
I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction I served in the United States Navy. John F. Kennedy
Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly. John F. Kennedy
The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all. John F. Kennedy
The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission. John F. Kennedy
For in the final analysis, our most basic common link, is that we all inhabit this small planet, we all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children’s futures, and we are all mortal. John F. Kennedy
My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. John F. Kennedy
The courage of life is often a less dramatic spectacle than the courage of a final moment; but it is no less a magnificent mixture of triumph and tragedy. A man does what he must in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures and that is the basis of all morality. John F. Kennedy
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. John F. Kennedy
We need men who can dream of things that never were. John Fitzgerald Kennedy
If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. John F. Kennedy
Those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside. John F. Kennedy
Man is still the most extraordinary computer of all. John F. Kennedy
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. John F. Kennedy
A man does what he must in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures and that is the basis of all human morality. John F. Kennedy
We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth. John F. Kennedy
For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future. John F. Kennedy
So, 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 now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic 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. John F. Kennedy
Our problems are man made, therefore they may be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. John F. Kennedy
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. John F. Kennedy
It is an unfortunate fact that we can secure peace only by preparing for war. John F. Kennedy
We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch we are going back from whence we came. John F. Kennedy
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. John F. Kennedy
I look forward to a future in which our country will match its military strength with our moral restraint, its wealth with our wisdom, its power with our purpose. John F. Kennedy
Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one’s own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others. John F. Kennedy
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. John F. Kennedy
Israel was not created in order to disappear Israel will endure and flourish. It is the child of hope and the home of the brave. It can neither be broken by adversity nor demoralized by success. It carries the shield of democracy and it honors the sword of freedom. John F. Kennedy
