Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.
Inaugural Address (1961)
JF
John F. Kennedy quotes
1917-1963 ยท Presidents and world leaders
35th President of the United States who launched the race to the Moon.
10 quotes, 10 traced to where Kennedy said or wrote them.
Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.
Inaugural Address (1961)
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.
Address at Rice University (1962)
Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.
Remarks prepared for delivery at the Trade Mart in Dallas (1963)
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, Frankfurt (1963)
As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.
Thanksgiving Day Proclamation (1963)
Things don't just happen, they are made to happen.
Speech at the Arkansas State Fairground, Little Rock (1963)
We must use time as a tool, not as a couch.
Address to the National Association of Manufacturers (1961)
The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.
State of the Union Address (1962)
We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light the candle that can guide us through that darkness to a safe and sane future.
Democratic National Convention acceptance speech (1960)