Third, and finally, the educated citizen has an obligation to uphold the law. This is the obligation of every citizen in a free and peaceful society--but the educated citizen has a special responsibility by the virtue of his greater understanding. For whether he has ever studied history or current events, ethics or civics, the rules of a profession or the tools of a trade, he knows that only a respect for the law makes it possible for free men to dwell together in peace and progress.

John F. Kennedy

Categorized in : Men Law Responsibility

The Republican Party can lead any person to believe that their promises will be fulfilled in the future. They follow the Hitler line – no matter how big the lie; repeat it often enough and the masses will regard it as truth.

John F. Kennedy

propaganda matter lying

If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

John F. Kennedy

helping-others success inspirational

One person can make a difference, and everyone should try.

John F. Kennedy

bullying morning inspirational

If by a "Liberal," they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people - their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties - someone who believes that we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say that I'm a "Liberal."

John F. Kennedy

jobs believe school

There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.

John F. Kennedy

freedom leadership motivational

Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.

John F. Kennedy

4th-of-july responsibility past

No responsibility of government is more fundamental than the responsibility of maintaining the highest standard of ethical behavior for those who conduct the public business.

John F. Kennedy

political government responsibility

This country cannot afford to be materially rich and spiritually poor.

John F. Kennedy

presidential poverty country

This is not a time to keep the facts from the people-to keep them complacent. To sound the alarm is not to panic but to seek action from an aroused public. For, as the poet Dante once said: 'The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in a time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.

John F. Kennedy

neutrality panic people

Only an educated and informed people will be a free people.

John F. Kennedy

educated freedom people

Don't pray for an easy life, pray to be a stronger man.

John F. Kennedy

life-being-hard strength men

My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.

John F. Kennedy

inspiring inspirational country

By calling attention to 'a well regulated militia,' 'the security of the nation,' and the right of each citizen 'to keep and bear arms,' our founding fathers recognized the essentially civilian nature of our economy... The Second Amendment still remains an important declaration of our basic civilian-military relationships in which every citizen must be ready to participate in the defense of his country. For that reason I believe the Second Amendment will always be important.

John F. Kennedy

military country father

Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.

John F. Kennedy

being-yourself freedom inspirational

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.

John F. Kennedy

freedom inspirational peace

A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.

John F. Kennedy

christian war peace

First, what does truth require? It requires us to face the facts as they are, not to involve ourselves in self-deception; to refuse to think merely in slogans. If we are to work for the future of the city, let us deal with the realities as they actually are, not as they might have been, and not as we wish they were.

John F. Kennedy

truth reality thinking

The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.

John F. Kennedy

voting ignorance inspirational

The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it.

John F. Kennedy

long-ago secret people

Our task is not to fix blame for the past, but to fix the course for the future.

John F. Kennedy

future healing past