50+ Amazing Quotes by John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy was known for his eloquent speeches and profound statements.
1. “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” – President John. F. Kennedy
2. “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” – President John. F. Kennedy
3. “Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly.” – President John. F. Kennedy
4. “In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility – I welcome it.” – President John. F. Kennedy
5. “Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” – President John. F. Kennedy
6. “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” – President John. F. Kennedy
7. “The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life.” – President John. F. Kennedy
8. “The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.” – President John. F. Kennedy
9. “Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.” – President John. F. Kennedy
10. “If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.” – President John. F. Kennedy
11. “The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.” – President John. F. Kennedy
12. “Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.” – President John. F. Kennedy
13. “Liberty without learning is always in peril; learning without liberty is always in vain.” – President John. F. Kennedy
14. “The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were.” – President John. F. Kennedy
15. “The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.” – President John. F. Kennedy
16. “Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource.” – President John. F. Kennedy
17. “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.” – President John. F. Kennedy
18. “A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.” – President John. F. Kennedy
19. “Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free.” – President John. F. Kennedy
20. “We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch – we are going back from whence we came.” – President John. F. Kennedy
These quotes reflect Kennedy’s vision, hope for the future, and the challenges he and the nation faced during his presidency. They continue to inspire and challenge people even today.
Here are some more quotes by John F. Kennedy:
President John F. Kennedy’s words continue to resonate, offering wisdom and insight on a range of topics.
21. “Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.” – President John. F. Kennedy
22. “A child miseducated is a child lost.” – President John. F. Kennedy
23. “When power leads man toward 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.” – President John. F. Kennedy
24. “History is a relentless master. It has no present, only the past rushing into the future. To try to hold fast is to be swept aside.” – President John. F. Kennedy
25. “Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.” – President John. F. Kennedy
26. “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” – President John. F. Kennedy
27. “To state the facts frankly is not to despair the future nor indict the past. The prudent heir takes careful inventory of his legacies and gives a faithful accounting to those whom he owes an obligation of trust.” – President John. F. Kennedy
28. “A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers.” – President John. F. Kennedy
29. “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.” – President John. F. Kennedy
30. “War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.” – President John. F. Kennedy
31. “We stand today on the edge of a New Frontier – the frontier of the 1960s, the frontier of unknown opportunities and perils, the frontier of unfilled hopes and unfilled threats.” – President John. F. Kennedy
32. “Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.” – President John. F. Kennedy
33. “Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.” – President John. F. Kennedy
34. “If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.” – President John. F. Kennedy
35. “The one unchangeable certainty is that nothing is unchangeable or certain.” – President John. F. Kennedy
36. “Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.” – President John. F. Kennedy
37. “The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.” – President John. F. Kennedy
38. “A man does what he must – in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers, and pressures – and that is the basis of all human morality.” – President John. F. Kennedy
39. “There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long-range risks of comfortable inaction.” – President John. F. Kennedy
40. “When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.” – President John. F. Kennedy
President Kennedy’s remarks span a wide range of issues, from global peace and the challenges of leadership to personal responsibility and the value of diversity. They serve as a reminder of his vision and the ideals he held for the nation and the world.
And here are even more Quotes by JFK:
41. “It is time for a new generation of leadership, to cope with new problems and new opportunities. For there is a new world to be run.” –Television address, July 4, 1960
42. “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.” –-Speech accepting the Democratic presidential nomination, July 15, 1960
43. “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, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.
44. Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
45. And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” –Inaugural address, January 20, 1961
46. “The wave of the future is not the conquest of the world by a single dogmatic creed but the liberation of the diverse energies of free nations and free men.” –University of California at Berkeley Address, March 23, 1962
47. “In a time of turbulence and change, it is more true today than ever that knowledge is power.” –White House Dinner Reception, April 1962
48. “Liberty without learning is always in peril and learning without liberty is always in vain.” –Remarks at Vanderbilt University, March 18, 1963
49. “Every American ought to have the right to be treated as he would like to be treated, as one would wish to be treated, as one would wish his children to be treated.” –Television address on civil rights, June 11, 1963
Certainly! Here are 10 more quotes by President John F. Kennedy:
50. “We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.” – President John. F. Kennedy
51. “Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.” – President John. F. Kennedy
52. “Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan.” – President John. F. Kennedy
53. “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.” – President John. F. Kennedy
54. “For in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s futures. And we are all mortal.” – President John. F. Kennedy
55. “The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth.” – President John. F. Kennedy
56. “In a time of domestic crisis, men of goodwill and generosity should be able to unite regardless of party or politics.” – President John. F. Kennedy
57. “The greater our knowledge increases, the more our ignorance unfolds.” – President John. F. Kennedy
58. “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.” – President John. F. Kennedy
59. “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.” – President John. F. Kennedy
JFK’s words continue to inspire and challenge, offering insights into his perspectives on leadership, responsibility, and the human condition.
50+ of the Best Quotes by President Lyndon Baines Johnson
President Lyndon B. Johnson made many significant remarks during his time in office and over his political career.
1. “Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
2. “If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read: ‘President Can’t Swim.'” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
3. “The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
4. “We have talked long enough in this country about equal rights. It is time now to write the next chapter – and to write it in the books of law.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
5. “We can draw lessons from the past, but we cannot live in it.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
6. “We must open the doors of opportunity. But we must also equip our people to walk through those doors.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
7. “Education is not a problem. Education is an opportunity.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
8. “We did not choose to be the guardians of the gate, but there is no one else.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
9. “A man without a vote is a man without protection.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
10. “I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
11. “There is no issue of States’ rights or National rights. There is only the struggle for human rights.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
12. “Our society will not be great until every young mind is set free to scan the farthest reaches of thought and imagination.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
13. “I believe the destiny of your generation – and your nation – is a rendezvous with excellence.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
14. “Peace is a journey of a thousand miles and it must be taken one step at a time.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
15. “Books and ideas are the most effective weapons against intolerance and ignorance.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
16. “The noblest search is the search for excellence.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
17. “At times history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to shape a turning point in man’s unending search for freedom.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
18. “The presidency has made every man who occupied it, no matter how small, bigger than he was; and no matter how big, not big enough for its demands.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
19. “In 1790, the nation which had fought a revolution against taxation without representation discovered that some of its citizens weren’t much happier about taxation with representation.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
20. “I want to be the president who educated young children to the wonders of their world.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
These quotes give a glimpse into the mind and philosophy of LBJ, capturing his thoughts on civil rights, education, politics, and leadership. They reflect many of the issues and challenges of his era, as well as his own personal views on governance and society.
Here are 30+ more LBJ Quotes:
21. “Freedom is not enough.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
22. “Our most tragic error may have been our inability to establish a rapport and a confidence with the press and television with the communication media. I don’t think the press has understood me.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
23. “This administration here and now declares unconditional war on poverty in America.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
24. “The family is the cornerstone of our society. More than any other force it shapes the attitude, the hopes, the ambitions, and the values of the child.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
25. “If two men agree on everything, you may be sure that one of them is doing the thinking.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
26. “For this is what America is all about. It is the uncrossed desert and the unclimbed ridge. It is the star that is not reached and the harvest that is sleeping in the unplowed ground.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
27. “The guns and the bombs, the rockets and the warships, are all symbols of human failure.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
28. “While you’re saving your face, you’re losing your ass.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
29. “You aren’t learning anything when you’re talking.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
30. “I’d rather give my life than be afraid to give it.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
31. “If you let a bully come in your front yard, he’ll be on your porch the next day and the day after that he’ll rape your wife in your own bed.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
32. “I’ll tell you what’s at the bottom of it. If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
33. “There are no problems we cannot solve together, and very few that we can solve by ourselves.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
34. “Poverty must not be a bar to learning and learning must offer an escape from poverty.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
35. “What convinces is conviction. Believe in the argument you’re advancing. If you don’t you’re as good as dead.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
36. “In our home there was always prayer: aloud, proud and unapologetic.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
37. “The land flourished because it was fed from so many sources—because it was nourished by so many cultures and traditions and peoples.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
38. “When I appoint a negro to the bench, I want everybody to know he’s a negro. When I appoint a woman, I want everybody to know she’s a woman.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
39. “A compassionate government keeps faith with the trust of the people and cherishes the future of their children.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
40. “There is but one way for a president to deal with the Congress, and that is continuously, incessantly, and without interruption.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
41. “You do not examine legislation in the light of the benefits it will convey if properly administered, but in the light of the wrongs it would do and the harm it would cause if improperly administered.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
42. “We come to reason, not to dominate. We do not seek to have our way, but to find a common way.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
43. “America has not been given the truth about Lyndon Johnson… the truth is, he died of a broken heart, the war killed him.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
44. “If future generations are to remember us more with gratitude than sorrow, we must achieve more than just the miracles of technology. We must also leave them a glimpse of the world as it was created, not just as it looked when we got through with it.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
45. “You’ve got to work things out in the cloakroom, and when you’ve got them worked out, you can debate a little before you vote.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
46. “The American city should be a collection of communities where every member has a right to belong. It should be a place where every man feels safe on his streets and in the house of his friends.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
47. “Being president is like being a jackass in a hailstorm. There’s nothing to do but to stand there and take it.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
48. “Making a speech on economics is a lot like pissing down your leg. It seems hot to you, but it never does to anyone else.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
49. “It’s the price of leadership to do the thing you believe has to be done at the time it must be done.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
50. “I don’t believe I’ll ever get credit for anything I do in foreign affairs, no matter how successful it is, because I didn’t go to Harvard.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson
President Johnson was a complex figure, with a gift for memorable phrases. These quotes touch on a range of issues from civil rights, to his relationship with the press, to his views on leadership and governance, reflecting the unique challenges and circumstances of his presidency.
And more LBJ Quotes:
“All I have I would have given gladly not to be standing here today.” –First Address to Congress as President, November 27, 1963
“We have talked long enough in this country about equal rights. We have talked for a hundred years or more. It is time now to write the next chapter- and to write in the books of law.” –First State of the Union Address, January 8, 1964“This nation, this generation, in this hour has man’s first chance to build a Great Society, a place where the meaning of man’s life matches the marvels of man’s labor.” –Address accepting the presidential nomination, August, 1964
“In the land of great wealth, families must not live in hopeless poverty. In a land of healing miracles, neighbors must not suffer and die unattended. In a land of learning and scholars, young people must be taught to read or right.”
“This administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America… For the war against poverty will not be won here in Washington. It must be won in the field, in every public office, from the courthouse to the White House. The program I will propose will emphasize this cooperative approach.” –State of the Union Address