Senators, we hear, must be politicians – and politicians must be concerned only with winning votes, not with statesmanship or courage. Mothers may still want their favorite sons to grow up to be President, but according to a famous Gallup poll of some years ago, they do not want them to become politicians in the process." - Meaning and context.">
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Source: Profiles in Courage Excerpts. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. Archived from the original on August 17, 2025. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
“

Senators, we hear, must be politicians – and politicians must be concerned only with winning votes, not with statesmanship or courage. Mothers may still want their favorite sons to grow up to be President, but according to a famous Gallup poll of some years ago, they do not want them to become politicians in the process.

— John F. Kennedy

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Senators, we hear, must be politicians – and politicians must be concerned only with winning votes, not with statesmanship or courage. Mothers may still want their favorite sons to grow up to be President, but according to a famous Gallup poll of some years ago, they do not want them to become politicians in the process." in the context of "Source: Profiles in Courage Excerpts. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. Archived from the original on August 17, 2025. Retrieved August 17, 2025." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "John F. Kennedy" (Quotes, Pre-1960, Profiles in Courage (1956)) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed February 05, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
John F. Kennedy

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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