Quotes from John F. Kennedy

Desprecio la popularidad efímera

It is a curious fact that each of these extreme opposites resembles the other. Each believes that we have only two choices: appeasement or war, suicide or surrender, humiliation or holocaust, to be either Red or dead. [Address at the University of Washington in Seattle, November 16 1961]

Oscar Handlin has said, "Once I thought to write a history of the immigrants in America. Then I discovered that the immigrants were American history. In the same sense we cannot really speak of a particular immigrant contribution to America, because All Americans have been immigrants or the decedents of immigrants, even the Indians as mentioned before, migrated to the American continent. We can only speak of people whose roots in America are older or newer.

One man can make a difference and every man should try.

The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God

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. . . Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.

Que nunca negociemos por medo, mas que jamais tenhamos medo de negociar.

No tienes que poseer un título universitario para servir. No tienes que hacer que tu sujeto y tu verbo coincidan para servir. No tienes que saber sobre Platón y Aristóteles para servir. No tienes que conocer la teoría de la relatividad de Einstein para servir. Solo necesitas un corazón lleno de gracia. Un alma que nazca del amor. Y puedes ser ese servidor.

Dónde más, en un país que no sea totalitario, sino en la profesión política, se espera que el individuo lo sacrifique todo —incluyendo su propia carrera— por el bien nacional?

Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.

O God, Thy Sea Is So Great And My Boat Is So Small

If there is a lesson from the lives of the men John Kennedy depicts in this book, if there is a lesson from his life and from his death, it is that in this world of ours none of us can afford to be lookers-on, the critics standing on the sidelines.

All of us have the same percentage of salt in our blood in our sweat and in our tears and when we go back to the sea we go back whense we came

If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him. We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.

Truth is omnipotent.

In a time of domestic crisis, men of goodwill and generosity should be able to unite regardless of party or politics.

In a time of domestic crisis men of good will and generosity should be able to unite

I believe in human dignity as the source of national purpose, in human liberty as the source of national action, in the human heart as the source of national compassion... for liberalism is not so much a party creed as it is an attitude of mind and heart, a faith in man's ability through the experiences of his reason and judgment to increase for himself and his fellow men the amount of justice and freedom and brotherhood which all human life deserves.

Always forgive your enemies but never forget their names

This is a book about the most admirable of human virtues - courage. 'Grace under pressure', Earnest Hemingway defined it.

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.

When power leads man towards arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses, for art establishes the basic human truths which must serve as the touchstones of our judgement. ~ JFK

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

When power corrupts, poetry cleanses. For art establishes the basic human truth which must serve as the touchstone of our judgment.