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John F. Kennedy
449 quotes
“War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Undated Letter to a Navy friend; also mentioned by William Safire in his "On Language" article "Warrior" in the New York Times rubric Magazines (26 August 2007); also in A Thousand Days : John F. Kennedy in the White Ho…
“NAURO NATIVE KNOWS POSIT HE CAN PILOT 11 ALIVE NEED SMALL BOAT KENNEDY”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) first seen 1943 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Message carved into a coconut after the wreck of PT-109 (6 August 1943). This has often been misquoted as "11 ALIVE NATIVE KNOWS POSIT & REEF NAURU ISLAND KENNEDY
“Where in the hell have you guys been? I've been at this bus stop for a whole week now.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“After visiting these places, you can easily understand how that within a few years Hitler will emerge from the hatred that surrounds him now as one of the most significant figures who ever lived. He had boundless ambition for his country which rendered him a menace to the peace of the world, but he had a mystery about him in the way that he lived and in the manner of his death that will live and grow after him. He had in him the stuff of which legends are made.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) first seen 1945 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: After visiting such Nazi strongholds as were found in Berchtesgaden and Kehlsteinhaus; Personal diary (1 August 1945); published in Prelude to Leadership (1995)
“Regarding the Republican Party: 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 (1917–1963) first seen 1947 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks of John F Kennedy, Fitton Council, Knights of Columbus, East Boston, Massachusetts, May 18, 1947; JFK Speeches, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
“If more politicians knew poetry, and more poets knew politics, I am convinced the world would be a little better place in which to live.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts (14 June 1956); Box 895, Senate Speech Files, John F. Kennedy Papers, Pre-Presidential Papers, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
“Let us not despair but act. 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 (1917–1963) first seen 1958 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks at "Loyola College Alumni Banquet, Baltimore, Maryland (18 February 1958); Box 899, Senate Speech Files, John F. Kennedy Papers, Pre-Presidential Papers, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
“I have just received the following wire from my generous daddy: "Dear Jack – Don’t buy a single vote more than necessary – I’ll be damned if I am going to pay for a landslide.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) first seen 1958 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks at "The Gridiron Club, Washington, D.C. (March 15, 1958); Box 899, Senate Speech Files, John F. Kennedy Papers, Pre-Presidential Papers; Box 29, David F. Powers Personal Papers, John F. Kennedy Speeches File
“In the Chinese language, the word "crisis" is composed of two characters, one representing danger and the other, opportunity.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) first seen 1959 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks at the United Negro College Fund, Indianapolis, Indiana (12 April 1959); Box 902, Senate Speech Files, Pre-Presidential Papers, John F. Kennedy Papers, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library; also in Remarks at Va…
“Senators, we hear, must be politicians – and politicians must be concerned only with winning votes, not with statesmanship or courage. Mothers may still want their favorite sons to grow up to be President, but according to a famous Gallup poll of some years ago, they do not want them to become politicians in the process.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Source: Profiles in Courage Excerpts. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. Archived from the original on August 17, 2025. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
“Some of my colleagues who are criticized today for lack of forthright principles – or who are looked upon with scornful eyes 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.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Source: Profiles in Courage Excerpts. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. Archived from the original on August 17, 2025. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
“But the question is how we will compromise and with whom. For it is easy to seize upon unnecessary concessions, not as means of legitimately resolving conflicts but as methods of “going along.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Source: Profiles in Courage Excerpts. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. Archived from the original on August 17, 2025. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
“Not all Senators would agree – but few would deny that the desire to be re-elected exercises a strong brake on independent courage. The third and most significant source of pressures which discourage political courage in the conscientious Senator or Congressman – and practically all of the problems described in this chapter apply equally to members of both Houses - is the pressure of his constituency, the interest groups, the organized letter writers, the economic blocs and even the average voter.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Source: Profiles in Courage Excerpts. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. Archived from the original on August 17, 2025. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
“There are other obligations in addition to those of state and region – the obligations of the party whose pressures have already been described. Even if I [John Kennedy] can disregard those pressures, do I not have an obligation to go along with the party that placed me in office? We believe in this country in the principle of party responsibility, and we recognize the necessity of adhering to party platforms – if the party label is to mean anything to the voters.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Source: Profiles in Courage Excerpts. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. Archived from the original on August 17, 2025. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
“We shall need compromises in the days ahead, to be sure. But these will be, or should be, compromises of issues, not of principles. We can compromise our political positions, but not ourselves... Compromise does not mean cowardice. Indeed it is frequently the compromisers and conciliators who are faced with the severest tests of political courage as they oppose the extremist views of their constituents.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Source: Profiles in Courage Excerpts. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. Archived from the original on August 17, 2025. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
“The voters selected us, in short, because they had confidence in our judgement and our ability to exercise that judgement from a position where we could determine what were their own best interest, as a part of the nation's interest.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Only the very courageous will be able to keep alive the spirit of individualism and dissent which gave birth to this nation, nourished it as an infant, and carried it through its severest tests upon the attainment of its maturity.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Profiles in Courage (1956), p. 17
“The true democracy, living and growing and inspiring, puts its faith in the people — faith that the people will not simply elect men who will represent their views ably and faithfully, but will also elect men who will exercise their conscientious judgment — faith that the people will not condemn those whose devotion to principle leads them to unpopular courses, but will reward courage, respect honor, and ultimately recognize right.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1964 Memorial Edition, p. 264
“For in a democracy, every citizen, regardless of his interest in politics, 'hold office'; everyone 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 (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1964 Memorial Edition, p. 265
“Dick Nixon is the victim of the worst press that ever hit a politician in this country. What they did to him in the Helen Gahagan Douglas race was disgusting.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Kennedy and Nixon (1996) by Christopher Matthews, p.123
“We celebrate the past to awaken the future.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks at the 25th Anniversary of the Signing of the Social Security Act," Hyde Park, New York (14 August 1960); Box 910, Senate Speech Files, John F. Kennedy Papers, Pre-Presidential Papers, John F. Kennedy Presidenti…
“President Roosevelt and President Truman and President Eisenhower had the same experience, they all made the effort to get along with the Russians. But every time, finally it failed. And the reason it failed was because the Communists are determined to destroy us, and regardless of what hand of friendship we may hold out or what arguments we may put up, the only thing that will make that decisive difference is the strength of the United States.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at Democratic Rally, George Washington High School Stadium, Alexandria, Virginia (24 August 1960)
“Now let me make it clear that I believe there can only be one defense policy for the United States and that is summed up in the word 'first.' I do not mean 'first, but'. I do not mean 'first, when'. I do not mean 'first, if'. I mean 'first — period'.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at VFW Convention, Detroit, Michigan," (26 August 1960); Box 910, Senate Speech Files, John F. Kennedy Papers, Pre-Presidential Papers, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
“In a world of danger and trial, peace is our deepest aspiration, and when peace comes we will gladly convert not our swords into plowshares, but our bombs into peaceful reactors, and our planes into space vessels. "Pursue peace," the Bible tells us, and we shall pursue it with every effort and every energy that we possess. But it is an unfortunate fact that we can secure peace only by preparing for war.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at Civic Auditorium, Seattle, Washington (6 September 1960)
“That requires only one kind of defense policy, a policy summed up in a single word "first." I do not mean "first, if," I do not mean "first, but," I do not mean "first, when," but I mean "First, period.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at Civic Auditorium, Seattle, Washington (6 September 1960)
“My call is not to those who believe they belong to the past. My call is to those who believe in the future.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at Civic Auditorium, Seattle, Washington (6 September 1960)
“There is a connection, hard to explain logically but easy to feel, between achievement in public life and progress in the arts. The age of Pericles was also the age of Phidias. The age of Lorenzo de Medici was also the age of Leonardo da Vinci. The age of Elizabeth was also the age of Shakespeare. And the New Frontier for which I campaign in public life, can also be a New Frontier for American art.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: [http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/Ready-Reference/JFK-Quotations.aspx Response to letter sent by Miss Theodate Johnson, Publisher of Musical America to the two presidential candidates requesting their vi…
“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 (1917–1963) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Acceptance of the New York Liberal Party nomination (14 September 1960) · Address of John F. Kennedy upon Accepting the Liberal Party Nomination for President
“Their platform, made up of left-over Democratic planks, has the courage of our old convictions. Their pledge is a pledge to the status quo — and today there can be no status quo.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address Accepting the Democratic Party Nomination for the Presidency of the United States — Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles (15 July 1960)
“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 (1917–1963) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Saturday Review (29 October 1960), p. 44
“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.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Third Nixon-Kennedy Presidential Debate (13 October 1960)
“We have all seen these circus elephants complete with tusks, ivory in their head and thick skins, who move around the circus ring and grab the tail of the elephant ahead of them.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Comments on members of the Republican party, in Remarks at the Cow Palace, San Francisco, California (2 November 1960); Box 914, Senate Speech Files, John F. Kennedy Papers, Pre-Presidential Papers, John F. Kennedy Pres…
“I can assure you that every degree of mind and spirit that I possess will be devoted to the long-range interests of the United States and to the cause of freedom around the world.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Acceptance speech (9 November 1960)
“Today some would say that those struggles are all over — that all the horizons have been explored — that all the battles have been won — that there is no longer an American frontier. But I trust that no one in this vast assemblage will agree with those sentiments. For the problems are not all solved and the battles are not all won — and we stand today on the edge of a New Frontier — the frontier of the 1960's — a frontier of unknown opportunities and perils — a frontier of unfulfilled hopes and threats.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom promised our nation a new political and economic framework. Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal promised security and succor to those in need. But the New Frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises — it is a set of challenges. It sums up not what I intend to offer the American people, but what I intend to ask of them. It appeals to their pride, not to their pocketbook — it holds out the promise of more sacrifice instead of more security.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There may be those who wish to hear more — more promises to this group or that — more harsh rhetoric about the men in the Kremlin — more assurances of a golden future, where taxes are always low and subsidies ever high. But my promises are in the platform you have adopted — our ends will not be won by rhetoric and we can have faith in the future only if we have faith in ourselves.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“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 minister would tell his parishoners for whom to vote — where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference — and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Finally, I believe in an America where religious intolerance will someday end — where all men and all churches are treated as equal — where every man has the same right to attend or not attend the church of his choice — where there is no Catholic vote, no anti-Catholic vote, no bloc voting of any kind — and where Catholics, Protestants and Jews, at both the lay and pastoral level, will refrain from those attitudes of disdain and division which have so often marred their works in the past, and promote instead the American ideal of brotherhood.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“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.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I would not look with favor upon a President working to subvert the First Amendment's guarantees of religious liberty. Nor would our system of checks and balances permit him to do so — and neither do I look with favor upon those who would work to subvert Article VI of the Constitution by requiring a religious test — even by indirection — for it. If they disagree with that safeguard they should be out openly working to repeal it.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I want a Chief Executive whose public acts are responsible to all groups and obligated to none — who can attend any ceremony, service or dinner his office may appropriately require of him — and whose fulfillment of his Presidential oath is not limited or conditioned by any religious oath, ritual or obligation.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But let me say, with respect to other countries, that I am wholly opposed to the state being used by any religious group, Catholic or Protestant, to compel, prohibit, or persecute the free exercise of any other religion. And I hope that you and I condemn with equal fervor those nations which deny their Presidency to Protestants and those which deny it to Catholics.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If I should lose on the real issues, I shall return to my seat in the Senate, satisfied that I had tried my best and was fairly judged. But if this election is decided on the basis that 40 million Americans lost their chance of being President on the day they were baptized, then it is the whole nation that will be the loser, in the eyes of Catholics and non-Catholics around the world, in the eyes of history, and in the eyes of our own people.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I believe in an America where the free enterprise system flourishes for all other systems to see and admire — where no businessman lacks either competition or credit — and where no monopoly, no racketeer, no government bureaucracy can put him out of business that he built up with his own initiative.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I believe in an America where the rights that I have described are enjoyed by all, regardless of their race or their creed or their national origin — where every citizen is free to think and speak as he pleases and write and worship as he pleases — and where every citizen is free to vote as he pleases, without instructions from anyone, his employer, the union leader or his clergyman.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our prestige abroad, what other peoples think of us, is not of importance only to those Americans who work or travel abroad. The sign "Yankee go home" does not apply only to our diplomats, foreign-aid specialists, and military personnel who are stationed overseas.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The great struggle in the world today is not one of popularity but one of power, and our power depends in considerable measure upon our ability to influence other nations, upon their willingness to associate themselves with our efforts, upon the strength of our stature and leadership. ... this deterioration in our prestige abroad threatens our bases, our alliances, our security and the peace itself and it is time we were respected once again throughout the would as the good neighbor.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We live under majority rule and if that majority is not well educated in its responsibilities, the whole Nation suffers.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This knowledge, the knowledge that the physical well-being of the citizen is an important foundation for the vigor and vitality of all the activities of the nation, is as old as Western civilization itself.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For 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. The relationship between the soundness of the body and the activities of the mind is subtle and complex. Much is not yet understood. But we do know what the Greeks knew: that intelligence and skill can only function at the peak of their capacity when the body is healthy and strong; that hardy spirits and tough minds usually inhabit sound bodies.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source