70 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Life, Politics, and Greatness

There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.

War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.

Communism has never come to power in a country that was not disrupted by war or corruption, or both.

The greater our knowledge increases the more our ignorance unfolds.

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.

Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce.

We cannot expect that all nations will adopt like systems, for conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.

I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House - with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.

Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.

Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.

When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the area of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.

I look forward to a great future for America - a future in which our country will match its military strength with our moral restraint, its wealth with our wisdom, its power with our purpose.

The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.

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

No one has been barred on account of his race from fighting or dying for America, there are no white or colored signs on the foxholes or graveyards of battle.

The world knows that America will never start a war. This generation of Americans has had enough of war and hate... we want to build a world of peace where the weak are secure and the strong are just.

Mothers all want their sons to grow up to be president, but they don't want them to become politicians in the process.

It is an unfortunate fact that we can secure peace only by preparing for war.

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.

The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are. The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.