Top 50 John F. Kennedy Quotes on Life, Inspiration & More

Who was John F. Kennedy?

John F. Kennedy, Full name – John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917, in Brookline, US. He is often known and recognized by his initials JFK and nickname Jack. John was an Ameican politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961. A significant part of his work as the president involved the relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba. He was a Democrat and had represented Massachusetts in the US house of representatives.

Early Life :

John was born in Brookline, US, on May 29, 1917. His father, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. was a politician and businessman. His mother, Rose Kennedy, was a socialite and a philanthropist. His paternal and maternal both the grandparents were the children of Irish Immigrants. John had eight siblings out of which one brother was elder to him, and the other seven were younger.

Till the age of 11, Kennedy and his family lived in Brookline only. He was baptized in the St. Aidan Church on June 19, 1917. The early childhood of Kennedy has the memories of him accompanying and visiting his grandfather, Fitzgerald, to the historical sites around their city. He also recalled sitting at the dinner table with his family and discussing politics, his interest in history and public service. His father usually was out and away from the family because of his work.

In the year 1927, they moved to the Riverdale neighborhood of New York. Although the family used to spend their festivals and weekends at their home in Massachusetts, some celebrations like Christmas and Easter holidays were to be paid at Palm beach in Florida.

Presidency of JFK :

John F. Kennedy took the oath to serve as the 35th president of the US on January 20, 1961. At the time of his swearing, he talked and spoke about how every citizen needs to be an active citizen for the country. He said they should talk about what they can do to serve the country rather than always asking what the government and state can do for them. John Kennedy was a person who wanted to be forever united. He said how the nations of the world need to come all forward and united to fight the evils and common enemies of the man like Poverty, War, and Disease.

With the speech, he left all the people shaken and believed. He won hearts. It made people think that he is the person and the kind of politician that would make a difference in both domestic and foreign affairs.

Assassination :

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. He was in Dallas, Texas, when he was shot at 12:30 pm Central standard time. He was there for some political meeting over the frictions between liberals Ralph Yarborough and Don Yarborough and conservative John Connally. John was shot twice; first at the back, the bullet exited from his throat, and the second was on his head.

He was taken to the Parkland hospital but was declared dead 30 minutes after. He was 46 years old when this happened and had only been there in the office for 1036 days. John was shot by the guy named Lee Harvey Oswald, typically known as Oswald. Before he could be prosecuted, he was shot dead by Jack Ruby on November 24.

John F. Kennedy was a highly reputed and genuine political leader. His name is still recognized and known to each child of the US. In this article, we have collected the best of the great human being, John F. Kennedy Quotes from his life.

Compilation of John F. Kennedy Quotes

John F. Kennedy quotes on Life :

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”
― John F. Kennedy

“The courage of life is often a less dramatic spectacle than the courage of a final moment; but it is no less a magnificent mixture of triumph and tragedy.”
― John F. Kennedy

“Once you say you’re going to settle for second, that’s what happens to you in life.”
― John F. Kennedy

“All my life I’ve known better than to depend on the experts. How could I have been so stupid, to let them go ahead?”
― John F. Kennedy

“If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.”
― John F. Kennedy

“One person can make a difference, and everyone should try.”
― John F. Kennedy

“Life is never easy. There is work to be done and obligations to be met—obligations to truth, to justice, and to liberty.”
― John F. Kennedy

“The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty, and all forms of human life.”
― John F. Kennedy

“There is nothing more certain and unchanging than uncertainty and change.”
― John F. Kennedy

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest form of appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”
― John F. Kennedy

“Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”
― John F. Kennedy

“We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world or make it the last.”
― John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy Inspirational quotes :

“Failure has no friends.”
― John F. Kennedy

“Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly.”
― John F. Kennedy

“We do these things not because they are easy but because they are hard.”
― John F. Kennedy

“Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan.”
― John F. Kennedy

“Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.”
― John F. Kennedy

“Our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings.”
― John F. Kennedy

“Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.”
― John F. Kennedy

“The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.”
― John F. Kennedy

“The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were and ask “why not?”
― John F. Kennedy

“Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.”
― John F. Kennedy

“Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.”
― John F. Kennedy

“Man is still the most extraordinary computer of all.”
― John F. Kennedy

“Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one’s own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.”
― John F. Kennedy

“Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger men.”
― John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy quotes on Country and Democracy :

“This country cannot afford to be materially rich and spiritually poor.”
― John F. Kennedy

“I look forward to an America which will not be afraid of grace and beauty.”
― John F. Kennedy

“A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers.”
― John F. Kennedy

“Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country.”
― John F. Kennedy

“A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.”
― John F. Kennedy

“Without debate, without criticism no administration and no country can succeed and no republic can survive.”
― John F. Kennedy

“No American is ever made better off by pulling a fellow American down, and all of us are made better off whenever any one of us is made better off.”
― John F. Kennedy

“In a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the moon it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there.”
― John F. Kennedy

“Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.”
― John F. Kennedy

“Art is the great democrat, calling forth creative genius from every sector of society, disregarding race or religion or wealth or color”
― John F. Kennedy

“The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.”
― John F. Kennedy

“It is an unfortunate fact that we can secure peace only by preparing for war.”
― John F. Kennedy

“We, in this country, in this generation, are – by destiny rather than by choice – the watchmen on the walls of world freedom.”
― John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy quotes on Children and Education :

“Children ate the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.”
― John F. Kennedy

“A child miseducated is a child lost.”
― John F. Kennedy

“Not every child has an equal talent or an equal ability or equal motivation, but they should have the equal right to develop their talent and their ability and their motivation, to make something of themselves.”
― John F. Kennedy

“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 futures, and we are all mortal.”
― John F. Kennedy

“We can say with some assurance that, although children may be the victims of fate, they will not be the victims of our neglect.”
― John F. Kennedy

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”
― John F. Kennedy

“The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth.”
― John F. Kennedy

“Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength of the nation.”
― John F. Kennedy

“The greater our knowledge increases the more our ignorance unfolds.”
― John F. Kennedy

“Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource.”
― John F. Kennedy

“Liberty without Learning is always in peril and Learning without Liberty is always in vain.”
― John F. Kennedy

Post you may also like : Top 50 Nelson Mandela Quotes on Life, Inspiration & Fear

We hope you liked this article. Thanks for reading.

Follow us on Instagram .