Quote

The men who create power make an indispensable contribution to the nation's greatness. But the men who question power make a contribution just as indispensable for they determine whether we use power or power uses us.

John F. Kennedy

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

John F. Kennedy
Age: 46 †
Born: 1917
Born: May 29
Died: 1963
Died: November 22
35Th U.S. President
Journalist
Military Officer
Politician
Statesperson
Writer
Brookline
Massachusetts
Kennedy
Jack Kennedy
President Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
J. F. Kennedy
JFK
John Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Jack Kennedy
JF Kennedy
Create
Nations
Indispensable
Whether
Uses
Use
Contribution
Power
Determine
Make
Greatness
Men
Nation
Question

More quotes by John F. Kennedy

Image
I think the American people expect more from us than cries of indignation and attack. The times are too grave, the challenge too urgent, and the stakes too high - to permit the customary passions of political debate.
John F. Kennedy
Image
The only reason to give a speech is to change the world.
John F. Kennedy
Image
Now the trumpet summons us again - not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need not as a call to battle, though embattled we are but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, 'rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation', a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.
John F. Kennedy
Image
Since the time of the ancient Greeks, we have always felt that there was a close relationship between a strong, vital mind and physical fitness.
John F. Kennedy
Image
The freedom of the city is not negotiable. We cannot negotiate with those who say, 'What's mine is mine and what's yours is negotiable.'
John F. Kennedy
Image
There is an old saying that the course of civilization is a race between catastrophe and education. In a democracy such as ours, we must make sure that education wins the race.
John F. Kennedy
Image
Let's not talk so much about vice. I'm against vice in all forms.
John F. Kennedy
Image
A child miseducated is a child lost.
John F. Kennedy
Image
Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.
John F. Kennedy
Image
Should I become President...I will not risk American lives...by permitting any other nation to drag us into the wrong war at the wrong place at the wrong time through an unwise commitment that is unwise militarily, unnecessary to our security and unsupported by our allies.
John F. Kennedy
Image
Time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life.
John F. Kennedy
Image
Peaceful circulation has been interupted by barbed wire and concrete blocks. For a city or a people to be truly free, they must have the secure right, without economic, political or police pressure, to make their own choices and live their own lives.
John F. Kennedy
Image
The basis of self-government and freedom requires the development of character and self-restraint and perseverance and the long view. And these are qualities which require many years of training and education.
John F. Kennedy
Image
The complacent, the self-indulgent, the soft societies are about to be swept away with the debris of history. Only the strong, only the industrious, only the determined, only the courageous, only the visionary who determine the real nature of our struggle can possibly survive.
John F. Kennedy
Image
Is this Nation stating it cannot afford to spend an additional $600 million to help the developing nations of the world become strong and free and independentan amount less than this countrys annual outlay for lipstick, face cream, and chewing gum?
John F. Kennedy
Image
Man is still the most extraordinary computer of all.
John F. Kennedy
Image
But however close we sometimes seem to that dark and final abyss, let no man of peace and freedom despair. For he does not stand alone.
John F. Kennedy
Image
I suppose if you could have only one thing, it would be that-energy. Without it, you haven't got a thing.
John F. Kennedy
Image
You have, at the same time, placed your confidence in me, and in my ability to render a free, fair judgment - to uphold the Constitution and my oath of office - and to reject any kind of religious pressure or obligation that might directly or indirectly interfere with my conduct of the Presidency in the national interest.
John F. Kennedy
Image
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.
John F. Kennedy