John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, remains one of history’s most quoted figures. Born on May 29, 1917, in Brookline, Massachusetts, and meeting a tragic end on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, Kennedy’s life was a blend of profound public service, compelling rhetoric, and a charismatic presence that left a lasting impact on the world. Hailing from the prominent Kennedy family, with Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Rose Kennedy as his parents, his legacy is not just political but deeply embedded in the social fabric of America. Through these 100 best quotes of John F. Kennedy, we explore his vision for personal growth, societal values, governance, and the deep interpersonal relations that underpin our very existence.
John F. Kennedy Quotes on Personal Virtues and Growth
John F. Kennedy’s eloquence and wisdom reached beyond politics, touching on the essence of personal development, the pursuit of knowledge, and the cultivation of virtues that contribute significantly to societal progress. His thoughts inspire us to reflect on our character, educate ourselves, and strive for wisdom, intelligence, and excellence.
5 Best John F. Kennedy Quotes on Character
“Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.”
“The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth.”
“A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.”
“Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.”
“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”
5 Best John F. Kennedy Quotes on Education
“Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education.”
“Liberty without learning is always in peril; learning without liberty is always in vain.”
“The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.”
“Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities.”
“A child miseducated is a child lost.”
5 Best John F. Kennedy Quotes on Knowledge
“The greater our knowledge increases, the greater our ignorance unfolds.”
“To further the appreciation of culture among all the people.”
“We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values.”
“Science contributes to our culture in many ways, as a creative intellectual activity in its own right, as the source of new tools to address social needs, and as a means of providing insights into man.”
“All of us do not have equal talent, but all of us should have an equal opportunity to develop our talents.”
5 Best John F. Kennedy Quotes on Intelligence
“There is a connection, hard to explain logically but easy to feel, between achievement in public life and progress in the arts.”
“The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.”
“Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer.”
“Too often we… enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”
“Man is still the most extraordinary computer of all.”
5 Best John F. Kennedy Quotes on Wisdom
“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.”
“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”
“We must use time as a tool, not as a couch.”
“Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly.”
“If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover those precious values – that all reality hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual control.”
Best 5 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Virtue
“In a time of domestic crisis, men of goodwill and generosity should be able to unite regardless of party or politics.”
“Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men.”
“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.”
“The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.”
“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
Best 5 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Ethics
“Courage, not complacency, is our need today. Leadership not salesmanship.”
“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.”
“To those whom much is given, much is expected.”
“The very word ‘secrecy’ is repugnant in a free and open society.”
“Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one’s own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.”
Best 5 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Morality
“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.”
“If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.”
“Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.”
“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.”
“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.”
Best 5 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Courage
“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.”
“Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.”
“The courage of life is often a less dramatic spectacle than the courage of a final moment; but it is no less a magnificent mixture of triumph and tragedy.”
“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.”
“The New Frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises, it is a set of challenges.”
Best 5 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Hard Work
“Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.”
“We stand today on the edge of a New Frontier – the frontier of the 1960s, a frontier of unknown opportunities and perils, a frontier of unfulfilled hopes and threats.”
“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.”
“The best road to progress is freedom’s road.”
“Effort and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.”
Best 5 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Excellence
“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, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills.”
“There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.”
“Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.”
“The greater our knowledge increases the more our ignorance unfolds.”
“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”
John F. Kennedy Quotes on Interpersonal Relations and Inner Life
John F. Kennedy’s insights into the human condition, relationships, and the inner workings of the soul highlight the importance of love, happiness, empathy, and friendship. These quotes encourage us to foster deeper connections and understand the intrinsic values that make us truly human.
Best 5 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Love
“Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.”
“The highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.”
“We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.”
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”
“Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.”
Best 5 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Happiness
“The purpose of life is to contribute in some way to making things better.”
“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”
“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.”
“Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger men.”
“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.”
Best 5 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Soul
“There are many people in the world who really don’t understand, or say they don’t, what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world. Let them come to Berlin.”
“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 future. And we are all mortal.”
“If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover those precious values – that all reality hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual control.”
“The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it — and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.”
“Art is the great democrat, calling forth creative genius from every sector of society, disregarding race or religion or wealth or color.”
Best 5 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Empathy
“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.”
“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.”
“Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan.”
“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.”
“A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers.”
Best 5 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Trust
“The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.”
“My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
“Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.”
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”
“We must use time as a tool, not as a crutch.”
Best 5 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Friendship
“Let us not despair but act. Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer but the right answer.”
“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.”
“We must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”
“In a crisis, be aware of the danger – but recognize the opportunity.”
“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”
John F. Kennedy Quotes on Societal Values and Governance
Kennedy’s presidency was marked by his vision for a society governed by justice, democracy, and a sense of community. His quotes in this section remind us of the importance of civic duty, the rule of law, and the pursuit of a greater good beyond oneself.
Best 5 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Society
“If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.”
“Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.”
“The great society is a place where men are more concerned with the quality of their goals than the quantity of their goods.”
“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have little.”
“The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.”
Best 5 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Justice
“Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer.”
“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.”
“Liberty without learning is always in peril, and learning without liberty is always in vain.”
“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.”
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
Best 5 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Democracy
“The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.”
“Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past, let us accept our own responsibility for the future.”
“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”
“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.”
“Democracy and defense are not substitutes for one another. Either alone will fail.”
Best 5 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Constitution
“We are a nation of laws, not of men.”
“The Constitution makes us not rivals for power but partners for progress.”
“It is as old as the scriptures and is as clear as the American Constitution.”
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
“The rights secured by the Constitution are not some old, outdated documents— they are the living, breathing promise of America.”
Best 5 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Leadership
“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”
“Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.”
“To those whom much is given, much is expected.”
“Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men.”
“The very word ‘secrecy’ is repugnant in a free and open society, and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths, and to secret proceedings.”
Best 5 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Politics
“Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer but the right answer.”
“Politics is like football; if you see daylight, go through the hole.”
“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 and ask ‘why not?'”
“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie—deliberate, contrived, and dishonest—but the myth—persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.”
Best 5 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Government
“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
“A government which does not trust its citizens to know the truth is a government that does not trust itself to be known.”
“The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth.”
“Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly.”
“We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.”
Best 5 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Law
“Without debate, without criticism, no Administration and no country can succeed—and no republic can survive.”
“The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.”
“Our problems are man-made, therefore they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings.”
“Let every nation know… that we shall support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”
“Liberty without learning is always in peril; learning without liberty is always in vain.”
Best 5 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Power
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”
“The great revolution in the history of man, past, present, and future, is the revolution of those determined to be free.”
“One person can make a difference, and everyone should try.”
“In the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.”
“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 men and free nations.”
Best 5 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Community
“It is not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”
“Effort and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.”
“When we think of the past, we forget the fools and remember the sage. We reverse the process for our own time.”
“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.”
“The glow from one candle can truly light the world. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it.”
Best 5 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Cultural Awareness
“If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him.”
“The diversity of the world’s cultures, including the arts, is not a source of division, but a source of strength and richness.”
“We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.”
“Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one’s own beliefs. Rather, it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.”
“Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource.”
Final Words on John F. Kennedy Quotes
John F. Kennedy’s legacy is encapsulated in his powerful, thought-provoking quotes that continue to inspire and guide many across the globe. His words transcend time, urging us to strive for personal growth, foster meaningful relationships, and contribute positively to society. Kennedy’s vision for a better world, rooted in compassion, understanding, and action, serves as a beacon of hope and a call to action for current and future generations. As we reflect on these 100 best quotes of John F. Kennedy, let us remember the enduring values Kennedy championed and strive to embody them in our daily lives, ensuring his legacy endures and flourishes.
