“All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.”
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 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“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 Primary source“To be sure, we are behind, and will be behind for some time in manned flight. But we do not intend to stay behind, and in this decade, we shall make up and move ahead.”
— John F. Kennedy Primary sourceMore quotes by John F. Kennedy →
“There are no days in life so memorable as those which vibrated to some stroke of the imagination.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“I am thee and thou art me and all of one is the other.”
— Ernest Hemingway Primary source“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.”
— Henry David Thoreau Primary source“An hundred thieves cannot strip one naked man, especially if his skin’s off.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source