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,...

The interaction of disparate cultures, the vehemence of the ideals that led the immigrants here, the opportunity offered by a new life, all gave America a flavor and a character that make it as unmistakable...

And is not peace, in the last analysis, basically a matter of human rights — the right to live out our lives without fear of devastation – the right to breathe air as nature provided...

The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.[State of the Union Address January 11 1962]

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 required...

In the years since man unlocked the power stored up within the atom, the world has made progress, halting, but effective, toward bringing that power under human control. The challenge may be our salvation. As...

Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.

Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.[Address in the Assembly Hall at the Paulskirche in Frankfurt, June 26 1963]

Truth is a tyrant-the only tyrant to whom we can give our allegiance. The service of truth is a matter of heroism.

Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.

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...

Time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life.

We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.

Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures. And however undramatic the pursuit of peace, that pursuit must go on.[Address before the United...

Do not pray for easy lives. Prey to be stronger men.

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

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

Peace is a process – a way of solving problems.

Let Us Be GratefulToday we give our thanks most of all, for the ideals of honor and faith we inherit from our forefathers – for the decency of purpose, steadfastness of resolve and strength of...

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.

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,...

This nation was founded by many men of many nations and backgrounds. It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the...

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...

If more politicians knew poetry, and more poets knew politics, the world would be a little better place to live.

Neither the fanatics nor the faint-hearted are needed. And our duty as a Party is not to our Party alone, but to the nation, and, indeed, to all mankind. Our duty is not merely the...

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...

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

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...

I look forward to an America which will not be afraid of grace and beauty

For while this year it may be a Catholic against whom the finger of suspicion is pointed, in other years it has been, and may someday be again, a Jew–or a Quaker–or a Unitarian–or a...

Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.

Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies. Those whom nature hath so joined together, let no man put asunder.

For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence — on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of...

A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on. Ideas have endurance without death.[Remarks Recorded for the Opening of a USIA Transmitter, February 8 1963]

If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.[Commencement Address at American University, June 10 1963]

The highest duty of the writer is to remain true to himself and let the chips fall where they may. In serving his vision of the truth the artist best serves his nation.

Victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan.[News conference, April 21 1961]

It is not always easy. Your successes are unheralded — your failures are trumpeted. I sometimes have that feeling myself.”[Speech at CIA Headquarters, November 28, 1961]

If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him.

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 earth.

Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.[Inaugural Address, January 20 1961]

We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people. For...

Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. JFK

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.[Undelivered remarks for Dallas Trade Mart, November 22 1963]

Without debate, without criticism no administration and no country can succeed and no republic can survive.

We need men who can dream of things that never were.

Libraries should be open to all – except the censor.[Response to questionnaire in Saturday Review, October 29 1960]

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

Unconditional war can no longer lead to unconditional victory. It can no longer serve to settle disputes. It can no longer be of concern to great powers alone. For a nuclear disaster, spread by winds...