Quotessence
Home / Authors / John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy Quotes

35th U.S. President

Filter quotes by topic

AllMenNationsIfsPresidentialWorldPeopleWarStatesInspirationalPresidentCountryPeaceUnitedAmericaPoliticalGovernmentPoliticsMayShouldUnited States

Famous John F. Kennedy Quotes

“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.”

NationsGrowthEconomicPositionIndustryEssentialsIncreasePlantInvestmentInternationalRecoveryEmploymentProductiveExpansionEconomic GrowthStimulusAccelerateModernization
Book:Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1961
Create image

“If sometimes our great artists have been the most critical of our society, it is because their sensitivity and their concern for justice, which must motivate any true artist, makes him aware that our nation falls short of its highest potential. I see little of more importance to the future of our country and our civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist.”

IfsLittlesHas BeensCountrySometimesArtistFallNationsJusticeCivilizationHighestConcernImportanceCriticalOur CountryRecognitionOur SocietySensitivityGreat ArtGreat ArtistTrue Artists
Author:John F. Kennedy
Create image

“There are indications because of new inventions, that 10, 15, or 20 nations will have a nuclear capacity, including Red China, by the end of the Presidential office in 1964. This is extremely serious. I think the fate not only of our own civilization, but I think the fate of world and the future of the human race, is involved in preventing a nuclear war.”

ThinkingWorldHumansWarEndsNationsRaceFateSeriousInvolvedCivilizationOfficeRedCapacityIncludingChinaNuclearInventionPresidentialHuman RaceIndicationPreventingNuclear WarNew Inventions
Author:John F. Kennedy
Create image

“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project...will be more exciting, or more impressive to mankind, or more important...and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.”

MenShouldBelieveImportantEarthI BelieveNationsDifficultGoalSpaceAchieveMankindMoonProjectsExcitingAccomplishDecadesCommitExpensiveImpressiveApolloLandingStar GazingMoon LandingMan In The Moon
Author:John F. Kennedy
Create image

“With all of the history of war, and the human race's history unfortunately has been a good deal more war than peace, with nuclear weapons distributed all through the world, and available, and the strong reluctance of any people to accept defeat, I see the possibility in the 1970's of the President of the United States having to face a world in which 15 or 20 or 25 nations may have these weapons.”

PeopleWorldHumansMayHas BeensWarStatesFacesStrongNationsPresidentUnitedDealsRaceAcceptingUnited StatesPossibilityWeaponsDefeatAvailableNuclearPresidentialHuman RaceNuclear WeaponsReluctance
Book:Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1963
Create image

“The success of this Government, and thus the success of our Nation, depends in the last analysis upon the quality.of our career services. The legislation enacted by the Congress, as well as the decisions made by me and by the department and agency heads, must all be implemented by the career men and women in the Federal service. In foreign affairs, national defense, science and technology, and a host of other fields, they face problems of unprecedented importance and perplexity. We are all dependent on their sense of loyalty and responsibility as well as their competence and energy.”

MenWellsMadeProblemGovernmentLastsFacesEnergyNationsDecisionQualityResponsibilityCareersTechnologyFieldsDependsMen And WomenImportanceAffairCongressDefenseLoyaltyPresidentialAnalysisAgencyDepartmentDependentHostLegislationCompetenceUnprecedentedScience And TechnologyDecisions MadeNational DefensePerplexityForeign Affairs
Author:John F. Kennedy
Create image

“I do ask every publisher, every editor, and every newsman in the nation to reexamine his own standards, and to recognize the nature of our country's peril. In time of war, the government and the press have customarily joined in an effort based largely on self-discipline, to prevent unauthorized disclosures to the enemy. In time of "clear and present danger," the courts have held that even the privileged rights of the First Amendment must yield to the public's need for national security.”

NeedsFirstsWarSelfCountryGovernmentAsksNationsEffortMistakeEnemyClearRightsSecurityDangerDisciplineStandardsCourtPressesOur CountryYieldEditorsAmendmentsSelf DisciplinePrivilegedNational SecurityPublishersPerilFirst AmendmentDisclosure
Author:John F. Kennedy
Create image

“It is with great satisfaction that I have signed into law the Social Security Amendments of 1961. They represent an additional step toward eliminating many of the hardships resulting from old age, disability, or the death of the family wage-earner. A nation's strength lies in the well-being of its people. The Social Security program plays an important part in providing for families, children, and older persons in time of stress, but it cannot remain static. Changes in our population, in our working habits, and in our standard of living require constant revision.”

PeopleWellsChildrenPersonsImportantPlayAgeLawLyingNationsSocialStepsSecurityHabitStandardsProgramStressConstantPopulationSatisfactionOld AgeWell BeingHardshipDisabilityAmendmentsProvidingSocial SecurityStaticStandards Of LivingEliminatingRevision
Author:John F. Kennedy
Create image

“I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children - not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women - not merely peace in our time but peace for all time.”

MenKindChildrenEarthNationsGrowsPeaceTalkingMen And WomenGenuineTyrannyAll TimeOur TimeBetter LifeWorth LivingBeing At PeaceMake Peace Not War
Author:John F. Kennedy
Create image

“That is the kind of America in which I believe. And it represents the kind of Presidency in which I believe - a great office that must neither be humbled by making it the instrument of any one religious group nor tarnished by arbitrarily withholding its occupancy from the members of any one religious group. I believe in a President whose religious views are his own private affair, neither imposed by him upon the Nation or imposed by the Nation upon him as a condition to holding that office.”

BelieveKindAmericaI BelieveNationsPresidentReligiousViewsDemocracyGroupsConditionsMembersOfficeInstrumentsAffairI Believe InPresidencyWithholdingReligious ViewsGreat Office
Author:John F. Kennedy
Create image

“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.”

NeedsHumansMeanLongTwoEarthFacesNationsAbilityRaceHalfCitizensMembersCapacityThirdsLifetimeHungerSatisfiedHuman RaceDeficit
Author:John F. Kennedy
Create image

“The lower the family income, the higher the probability that the mother must work. Today, 1 out of 5 of these working mothers has children under 3. Two out of 5 have children of school age. Among the remainder, about 50 percent have husbands who earn less than $5,000 a year-many of them much less. I believe they bear the heaviest burden of any group in our Nation. Where the mother is the sole support of the family, she often must face the hard choice of either accepting public assistance or taking a position at a pay rate which averages less than two-thirds of the pay rate for men.”

MenYearsBelieveChildrenTwoHardAgeTodaySchoolFacesMotherChoicesI BelieveNationsPayAcceptingSupportGroupsPositionBearsHigherHusbandEqualPercentThirdsRateAverageBurdenIncomeSoleProbabilityAssistanceEqual Pay
Author:John F. Kennedy
Create image

“It is for these reasons that I believe we must expand day-care centers and provide other assistance which I have recommended to the Congress. At present, the total facilities of all the licensed day-care centers in the Nation can take care of only 185,000 children. Nearly 500,000 children under 12 must take care of themselves while their mothers work. This, it seems to me, is a formula for disaster.”

BelieveChildrenReasonSeemsCareMotherI BelieveNationsEqualCongressTake CareDisasterFormulasAssistanceFacilityEqual PayDay Care
Author:John F. Kennedy
Create image

“To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support - to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective - to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak - and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run.”

WorldMayWarStatesRunningAgeLastsNationsUnitedSupportBecomingAreasWeakInstrumentsSovereignUnited NationsShieldsPledgeAssemblyNew World OrderHoping For The BestForums
Author:John F. Kennedy
Create image

“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.”

PeopleWorldMatterStatesProblemLawNationsUnitedStepsUnited StatesMilitarySeriesInternationalPeacefulUnited NationsDisputesMachineryNew World OrderSettlementExtendingInternational LawDelegation
Author:John F. Kennedy
Create image

“Some of my colleagues who are criticized today for lack of forthright principles-or who are looked upon with scorn as compromising "politicians"-are simply engaged in the fine art of conciliating, balancing and interpreting the forces and factions of public opinion, an art essential to keeping our nation united and enabling our Government to function.”

ArtGovernmentTodayForceNationsUnitedOpinionPrinciplesFinePoliticianEssentialsFunctionCompromiseEngagedColleaguesPublic OpinionScornFine ArtsEnablingFactionsInterpreting
Author:John F. Kennedy
Create image

“This increase in the life span and in the number of our senior citizens presents this Nation with increased opportunities: the opportunity to draw upon their skill and sagacityand the opportunity to provide the respect and recognition they have earned. It is not enough for a great nation merely to have added new years to lifeour objective must also be to add new life to those years.”

YearsEnoughOpportunityNationsNumbersCitizensSkillsDrawsIncreaseAddObjectivesRecognitionNew YearSeniorNew LifeGreat NationsSenior CitizenLife Span
Book:Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1963
Create image

“Few nations do more than the United States to assist their least fortunate citizens-to make certain that no child, no elderly or handicapped citizen, no family in any circumstances in any State, is left without the essential needs for a decent and healthy existence. In too few nations, I might add, are the people aware of the progressive strides this country has taken in demonstrating the humanitarian side of freedom. Our record is a proud one-and it sharply refutes those who accuse us of thinking only in the materialistic terms of cash registers and calculating machines.”

PeopleThinkingNeedsChildrenCountryStatesMightCertainLeftNationsSidesTermUnitedExistenceUnited StatesTakenRecordsProudCitizensCircumstancesHealthyEssentialsMachinesAddHumanitarianFortunateDecentProgressiveCashElderlyRegisterMaterialisticStrideDemonstratingCalculatingHandicapped
Author:John F. Kennedy
Create image