We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values.
For without belittling the courage with which men have died, we should not forget those acts of courage with which men have lived.
Our goal is not 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.
Just because we cannot see clearly te end of the road, that is no reason for not setting out on the essential journey.
Real men stay faithful. They don’t have time to look for other women because they’re too busy looking for new ways to love their own.
We celebrate the past to awaken the future.
In that case, there is no time to lose. Plant it this afternoon!
There is nothing more certain and unchanging than uncertainty and change.
To be courageous requires no exceptional qualifications, no magic formula, no special combination of time, place, and circumstance. It is an opportunity that sooner or later is presented to us all.
What really counts is not the immediate act of courage or of valor, but those who bear the struggle day in and day out – not the sunshine patriots but those who are willing to stand for a long period of time.
The basis of self-government and freedom requires the development of character and self-restraint and perseverance and the long view. And these are qualities which require many years of training and education.
For to save mankind’s future freedom, we must face up to any risk that is necessary. We will always seek peace – but we will never surrender.
While we shall negotiate freely, we shall not negotiate freedom.
Moral courage is more a rare commodity than bravery in a battle or great intelligence.
It is time for a new generation of leadership, to cope with new problems and new opportunities. For there is a new world to be won.
For I can assure you that we love our country, not for what it was, though it has always been great – not for what it is, though of this we are deeply proud – but for what it someday can, and, through the efforts of us all, someday will be.
I know few significant questions of public policy which can safely be confided to computers. In the end, the hard decisions inescapably involve imponderables of intuition, prudence, and judgment.
Every American ought to have the right to be treated as he would wish to be treated, as one would wish his children to be treated. This is not the case.
I do not say that all men are equal in their ability, character and motivation. I do say that every American should be given a fair chance to develop all the talents they may have.
The voters selected us, in short, because they had confidence in our judgement and our ability to exercise that judgement from a position where we could determine what were their own best interest, as a part of the nation’s interest.