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John F. Kennedy Quotes (1917-1963)
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About John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (29 May 1917 – 22 November 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and Jack, was the 35th president of the United States (1961–1963), a United States senator from Massachusetts (1953–1960), and a United States representative (1947–1953). Kennedy served at the height of the Cold War, and the majority of his work as president concerned relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba. He is the older brother of Robert F. Kennedy and Ted Kennedy, and the first husband of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. He was shot in the presence of his wife in Dallas on November 22, 1963.
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Explore our curated collection of the most famous and impactful John F. Kennedy quotes.
Facing potential congressional gridlock, John F. Kennedy emphasized the burden of leadership even with a slim majority, highlighting his determination to act despite obstacles.
“The margin is narrow, but the responsibility is clear.”
- John F. Kennedy, 1963)
“We have become more and more not a nation of athletes but a nation of spectators.”
- John F. Kennedy, 1961)
“For the unity of freedom has never relied on uniformity of opinion.”
- John F. Kennedy, 1963, Third State of the Union Address
“This country cannot afford to be materially rich and spiritually poor.”
- John F. Kennedy, 1963, Third State of the Union Address
“Somebody once said that Washington was a city of Northern charm and Southern efficiency.”
- John F. Kennedy, 1961)
“The truth doesn't die. The desire for liberty cannot be fully suppressed.”
- John F. Kennedy, 1963, Address at the Free University of Berlin
“We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.”
- John F. Kennedy, 1963)
“When I was a Congressman I never realized how important Congress was, but now I do.”
- John F. Kennedy, 1962, Address and Question and Answer Period at the Economic Club of New York
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”
- John F. Kennedy, 1962)
John F. Kennedy Quotes by Topic
Find exactly what you are looking for by browsing this categorized list of John F. Kennedy quotes by topic.
John F. Kennedy on World peace 12 quotes
“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.”
John F. Kennedy on Peace 11 quotes
“While we shall never weary in the defense of freedom, neither shall we ever abandon the pursuit of peace.”
John F. Kennedy on Freedom 10 quotes
“Conformity is the jailor of freedom.”
John F. Kennedy on War 8 quotes
View all 8 quotes on War →John F. Kennedy on Future 8 quotes
“My call is not to those who believe they belong to the past. My call is to those who believe in the future.”
John F. Kennedy on Time 7 quotes
Delivered during the 25th anniversary of Social Security, Kennedy's "We celebrate the past to awaken the future" highlights the importance of learning from history to shape progress.
“We celebrate the past to awaken the future.”
John F. Kennedy on Law 6 quotes
“Certain other societies may respect the rule of force--we respect the rule of law.”
John F. Kennedy on War and peace 6 quotes
“Peace need not be impracticable, and war need not be inevitable. By defining our goal more clearly, by making it seem more manageable and less remote, we can help all peoples to see it, to draw hope from it, and to move irresistibly toward it.”
- John F. Kennedy, K)
John F. Kennedy on Liberty 4 quotes
Inscribed at JFK's gravesite, this bold declaration from his inaugural address embodies his unwavering commitment to defending liberty at any cost, globally.
“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.”
John F. Kennedy on Knowledge 4 quotes
Speaking at Berkeley in 1962, John F. Kennedy expressed optimism that freedom and national independence would triumph over monolithic ideologies like communism in the evolving world.
“No one who examines the modern world can doubt that the great currents of history are carrying the world away from the monolithic idea towards the pluralistic idea--away from communism and towards national independence and freedom. No one can doubt that 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. No one can doubt that cooperation in the pursuit of knowledge must lead to freedom of the mind and freedom of the soul.”
- John F. Kennedy, Second half of the 20th century)
John F. Kennedy on Revolution 3 quotes
Speaking on the Alliance for Progress, John F. Kennedy warned of potential violent upheaval in Latin America if peaceful socio-economic change was obstructed.
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”
John F. Kennedy on Past 3 quotes
“My call is not to those who believe they belong to the past. My call is to those who believe in the future.”
What John F. Kennedy Said About Others
Discover personal opinions John F. Kennedy shared regarding contemporaries.
John F. Kennedy on Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis 3 quotes
View all 3 quotes on Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis →John F. Kennedy on Robert Frost 3 quotes
“Robert Frost was often skeptical about projects for human improvement, yet I do not think he would disdain this hope. As he wrote during the uncertain days of the Second War: Take human nature altogether since time began ... And it must be a little more in favor of man, Say a fraction of one percent at the very least ... Our hold on this planet wouldn't have so increased. Because of Mr. Frost's life and work, because of the life and work of this college, our hold on this planet has increased.”
John F. Kennedy on Dag Hammarskjöld 2 quotes
“I realise now that in comparison to him, I am a small man. He was the greatest statesman of our century.”
John F. Kennedy on Ted Kennedy 2 quotes
Facing his likely final election, John F. Kennedy playfully hinted at his brother Ted's political future, ensuring the Kennedy legacy would endure indefinitely.
“My last campaign may be coming up very shortly, but Teddy is around and, therefore, these campaigns can go on indefinitely.”
John F. Kennedy on Abraham Lincoln
John F. Kennedy on Richard Nixon
“Do you realize the responsibility I carry? I'm the only person standing between Richard Nixon and the White House.”
John F. Kennedy on Karl Marx
“If only this capitalistic New York newspaper had treated him more kindly, if only Marx had remained a foreign correspondent, history might have been different.”
John F. Kennedy on Anne Frank
John F. Kennedy powerfully acknowledged Anne Frank's enduring impact on the fight for human dignity amidst immense suffering, a sentiment echoed decades after her diary's publication.
“Of the multitude who throughout history have spoken for human dignity in times of great suffering and loss, no voice is more compelling than that of Anne Frank.”
John F. Kennedy on Wives
“I do not think it altogether inappropriate to introduce myself to this audience. I am the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris, and I have enjoyed it.”
John F. Kennedy on Winston Churchill
John F. Kennedy lauded Winston Churchill's masterful use of language as a weapon during Britain's darkest hours in WWII, granting him honorary US citizenship.
“In the dark days and darker nights when England stood alone—and most men save Englishmen despaired of England's life—he mobilized the English language and sent it into battle.”
John F. Kennedy on James Buchanan
“No one has a right to grade a president — even poor James Buchanan — who has not sat in his chair, examined the mail and information that came across his desk, and learned why he made his decisions.”
John F. Kennedy on Thomas Jefferson
Acknowledging intellect's power, John F. Kennedy wryly observed that a White House dinner for Nobel laureates was only rivaled by Jefferson's own solitary genius.
“I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”
Quotes About John F. Kennedy
Gain deeper perspective through quotes about John F. Kennedy from others.
Source on John F. Kennedy 20 quotes
“Neither the United States of America nor the world community of nations can tolerate deliberate deception and offensive threats on the part of any nation, large or small. We no longer live in a world where only the actual firing of weapons represents a sufficient challenge to a nation's security to constitute maximum peril. Nuclear weapons are so destructive and ballistic missiles are so swift, that any substantially increased possibility of their use or any sudden change in their deployment may well be regarded as a definite threat to peace.”
- John F. Kennedy, 1962, Cuban Missile Crisis speech
Dean Acheson on John F. Kennedy
“I hate to say this because I know it's going to be misunderstood, but his reputation is greater because of the tragedy of his death than it would have been if he had lived out two terms. ... He was a most attractive person. He had real charm. He did not seem to be in any sense a great man. I do not think he knew a great deal about the matters which it's desirable that a chief of state or a President of the United States should know about. He was not decisive.”
Bruce Bartlett on John F. Kennedy
“And it wasn't a Republican who wiretapped and snooped on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but Democrats John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert, who signed the order as Attorney General.”
Zbigniew Brzezinski on John F. Kennedy
“I met him in the 1950s when I was at Harvard, and I thought the world of him. I was greatly inspired by him when he became president, I found his inaugural address moving, I liked that special sense of vigor and enthusiasm that he injected into an America that seemed to be a little bit uncertain of itself, especially after the launch of the Sputnik. And I was profoundly shocked when he was shot. I remember that moment vividly, but I have to add that the more I learned about him later on, the more I became inclined to temper my enthusiasm for him. I began to see that he was much more manipulative, much more opportunistic, much more self-serving, much less guided by any profound sort of code of conduct or standard than I had believed. So it was, in a way, a disillusioning reassessment.”
E. Nelson Bridwell on John F. Kennedy
“This story, prepared in close cooperation with the late President Kennedy, was scheduled for publication in Superman No. 168, when word of his tragic assassination reached us. We immediately took it off the press and substituted other material. How-ever, white house officials have since informed us that President Johnson wanted it published, as a tribute to his great predecessor, and so we dedicate to the memory of our late, beloved president this plea for his physical fitness program, to which he was wholeheartedly devoted during his life..."Superman's mission for president Kennedy!"”
Rachel Carson on John F. Kennedy
“Besides the feeling of personal sorrow and loss, which for me could scarcely be greater if it were a member of the family, there are the feelings of shock, dismay, and revulsion at the black aspects of our national life so strongly underlined - the bigotry, intolerance and hatred preached by so many. The only ray of light I can see is that perhaps, because of his martyrdom, the noble ideals and aspirations that John Kennedy stood for will be understood as never before.”
Cesar Chavez on John F. Kennedy
“Public employee unions were greatly helped, it is true, by the executive order of the late President John F. Kennedy and by similar policies adopted by certain state and local governments.”
Noam Chomsky on John F. Kennedy
“Kennedy was at the hawkish end of the administration.”
Richard Dawkins on John F. Kennedy
Guy Debord on John F. Kennedy
“Kennedy survived as an orator to the point of delivering his own funeral oration, since Theodore Sorensen continued to write speeches for his successor in the same style that had contributed so much toward the dead man’s public persona.”
Ross Douthat on John F. Kennedy
“[The] premise is that Kennedy was a very good president, and might have been a great one if he’d lived. Few serious historians take this view … In reality, the kindest interpretation of Kennedy’s presidency is that he was a mediocrity whose death left his final grade as “incomplete.” The harsher view would deem him a near disaster — ineffective in domestic policy, evasive on civil rights and a serial blunderer in foreign policy, who barely avoided a nuclear war that his own brinksmanship had pushed us toward ... We confuse charisma with competence, rhetoric with results, celebrity with genuine achievement.”
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz on John F. Kennedy 2 quotes
“(JFK) was Catholic and a child of Irish immigrants, and this had never happened before, president that was not Anglo-Saxon or Scots-Irish and descended from the original settlers. So he had quite a hill to climb to make himself palatable.”
Misattributed Quotes
Quotes mistakenly credited to John F. Kennedy
“A revolution is coming — a revolution which will be peaceful if we are wise enough; compassionate if we care enough; successful if we are fortunate enough — But a revolution which is coming whether we will it or not. We can affect its character; we cannot alter its inevitability.”
“One person can make a difference, and every person should try.”
“A child miseducated is a child lost.”
“There's a plot in this country to enslave every man, woman, and child. Before I leave this high and noble office, I intend to expose this plot. - President John F. Kennedy 7 days before his assassination”
About John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (29 May 1917 – 22 November 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and Jack, was the 35th president of the United States (1961–1963), a United States senator from Massachusetts (1953–1960), and a United States representative (1947–1953). Kennedy served at the height of the Cold War, and the majority of his work as president concerned relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba. He is the older brother of Robert F. Kennedy and Ted Kennedy, and the first husband of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. He was shot in the presence of his wife in Dallas on November 22, 1963.