Over 40,000 Famous Quotes Sorted By Topic and Author

Ask not what your country can do for you: Ask what you can do for your country.

Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures. And however undramatic the pursuit of peace, the pursuit must go on.

When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.

The political world is stimulating. It's the most interesting thing you can do. It beats following the dollar.

Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. - Inaugural Address.

My brother Bob doesn't want to be in government -- he promised Dad he'd go straight.

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violen trevolution inevitable.

Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind.

We would like to live as we once lived, but history will not permit it.

History is a relentless master. It has no present, only the past rushing into the future. To try to hold fast is to be swept aside.

Mothers all want their sons to grow up to be president, but they don't want them to become politicians in the process.

I think "Hail to the Chief" has a nice ring to it.

The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly as necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else.

I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House--with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.

The American presidency will demand more than ringing manifestos issued from the rear of the battle. It will demand that the President place himself in the very thick of the fight; that he care passionately about the fate of the people he leads ...

It is in the American tradition to stand up for one's rights--even if the new way to stand up for one's rights is to sit down.

I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit.

The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie--diliberate, contrived, and dishonest--but the myth--persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.

The margin is narrow, but the responsibility is clear.

You can milk a cow the wrong way once and still be a farmer, but vote the wrong way on a water tower and you can be in trouble.