“Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans.”
John F. Kennedy
Inaugural Address of President John F. Kennedy (Primary source)
John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address marked a defining moment in American oratory, delivering a vision of renewal, responsibility, and global leadership during the Cold War. Addressing a divided world and a nation in transition, Kennedy struck a balance between idealism and resolve, famously declaring, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.’ This call to civic duty encapsulated his appeal for collective sacrifice and public service, urging Americans to embrace their role in shaping the nation’s future.
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“We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage—and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.”
John F. Kennedy
“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“The idea that Britain loses every battle except the last has proved correct so many times in the past that the average Englishman is unwilling to make great personal sacrifices until the danger is overwhelmingly apparent.”
— John F. Kennedy Primary source“For, in a democracy, every citizen, regardless of his interest in politics, ‘holds office’ every one of us is in a position of responsibility; and, in the final analysis, the kind of government we get depends upon how we fulfill those responsibilities. We, the people, are the boss, and we will get the kind of political leadership, be it good or bad, that we demand and deserve.”
— John F. Kennedy Primary sourceMore quotes by John F. Kennedy →
“Our goal is not the victory of might, but the vindication of right—not peace at the expense of freedom, but both peace and freedom, here in this hemisphere, and, we hope, around the world. God willing, that goal will be achieved.”
— John F. Kennedy Primary source“No catalogue of horrors ever kept men from war. Before the war you always think that it’s not you that dies. But you will die, brother, if you go to it long enough.”
— Ernest Hemingway Primary source“Time after time, history ran over the luddites and romanticists, those who sought to restore the old and delay the new. And every time, history did it with faster, more reliable and more advanced vehicles.”
— Winston Churchill Disputed“This is a time for action—not for war, but for mobilization of every bit of peace machinery.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt Primary source