“For, 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.”
John F. Kennedy
Commencement address at American University (Primary source)
On June 10, 1963, President John F. Kennedy delivered the commencement address at American University in Washington, D.C., devoting the speech to what he called “the most important topic on earth: world peace.” Often referred to as the “Strategy of Peace” speech, the address marked a significant rhetorical shift in Cold War policy.
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“We choose to go to the Moon. 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.”
— John F. Kennedy Primary source“Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”
— John F. Kennedy Primary source“We have had our failures, but so have others, even if they do not admit them. And they may be less public.”
— John F. Kennedy Primary source“Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, ‘Because it is there.’ Well, space is there, and we’re going to climb it, and the Moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God’s blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked.”
— John F. Kennedy Primary sourceMore quotes by John F. Kennedy →
“We must be our own [friend] before we can be another’s.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“Inside every large program is a small program struggling to get out.”
— Tony Hoare Secondary source“Where there’s no law, there’s no bread.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Today is yesterday’s pupil.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source