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...

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...

The life of the arts… is a test of the quality of a nation’s civilization.

Mankind must put an end to war – or war will put an end to mankind.[Address before the United Nations, September 25 1961]

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...

But wherever we are, we must all, in our daily lives, live up to the age-old faith that peace and freedom walk together. In too many of our cities today, the peace is not secure...

Terror is not a new weapon. Throughout history it has been used by those who could not prevail, either by persuasion or example. But inevitably they fail, either because men are not afraid to die...

Liberty without Learning is always in peril and Learning without Liberty is always in vain.

After visiting these two places (Berchtesgaden and the Eagle’s lair on Obersalzberg) you can easily see how that within a few years Hitler will emerge from the hatred that surrounds him now as one of...

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...