John F. Kennedy Quotes About Effort

• Effort and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.

  John F. Kennedy

  Inspirational, Leadership, Basketball

  John F. Kennedy's Speech at the Coliseum, Raleigh, North Carolina, September 17, 1960.

• Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.

  John F. Kennedy

  Motivational, Change, Inspiring

• I do ask every publisher, every editor, and every newsman in the nation to reexamine his own standards, and to recognize the nature of our country's peril. In time of war, the government and the press have customarily joined in an effort based largely on self-discipline, to prevent unauthorized disclosures to the enemy. In time of "clear and present danger," the courts have held that even the privileged rights of the First Amendment must yield to the public's need for national security.

  John F. Kennedy

  Country, War, Mistake

  Address to the American Newspaper Publishers, delivered 27 April 1961, Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York

• Democracy is never a final achievement. It is a call to an untiring effort.

  John F. Kennedy

  Achievement, Effort, Democracy

• I see no magic in tax dollars which are sent to Washington and then returned. I abhor the waste and incompetence of large-scale federal bureaucracies in this administration as well as in others. I do not favor state compulsion when voluntary individual effort can do the job and do it well.

  John F. Kennedy

  Jobs, Individual Effort, Magic

• The effort to improve the conditions of man, however, is not a task for the few. It is the task of all nations-acting alone, acting in groups, acting in the United Nations, for plague and pestilence, plunder and pollution, the hazards of nature and the hunger of children are the foes of every nation. The earth, the sea and the air are the concern of every nation. And science, technology and education can be the ally of every nation.

  John F. Kennedy

  Children, Technology, Men

  Final Address to the United Nations General Assembly, delivered 20 September 1963, New York, NY

• [High income tax rates] not only check consumption but discourage investment and encourage...the avoidance of taxes [rather] than the production of goods.[...]Our present tax system...reduces the financial incentives for personal effort, investment, and risk-taking.

  John F. Kennedy

  Effort, Risk, Incentives

• With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking his blessing and his help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.

  John F. Kennedy

  Love, Blessing, Land

  Inaugural Address, 20 Jan. 1961

• President Roosevelt and President Truman and President Eisenhower had the same experience, they all made the effort to get along with the Russians. But every time, finally it failed. And the reason it failed was because the Communists are determined to destroy us, and regardless of what hand of friendship we may hold out or what arguments we may put up, the only thing that will make that decisive difference is the strength of the United States.

  John F. Kennedy

  Hands, Differences, Effort

  Speech by Senator John F. Kennedy, Democratic Rally, George Washington High School Stadium, Alexandria, VA, www.presidency.ucsb.edu. August 24, 1960.

• Our present tax system ... exerts too heavy a drag on growth ... It reduces the financial incentives for personal effort, investment, and risk-taking ... The present tax load ... distorts economic judgments and channels an undue amount of energy into efforts to avoidtaxliabilities.

  John F. Kennedy

  Effort, Risk, Growth

• In a world of danger and trial, peace is our deepest aspiration, and when peace comes we will gladly convert not our swords into plowshares, but our bombs into peaceful reactors, and our planes into space vessels. "Pursue peace," the Bible tells us, and we shall pursue it with every effort and every energy that we possess. But it is an unfortunate fact that we can secure peace only by preparing for war.

  John F. Kennedy

  Inspirational, War, Space

  Speech at Civic Auditorium, Seattle, Washington, www.presidency.ucsb.edu. September 06, 1960.

• Our national conservation effort must include the complete spectrum of resources: air, water, and land; fuels, energy, and minerals; soils, forests, and forage; fish and wildlife. Together they make up the world of nature which surrounds us- of the American heritage.

  John F. Kennedy

  Air, Land, Water

  Kennedy, John F. (1963). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1962”, p.177, Best Books on

• The United States of America has no intention of finishing second in space. This effort is expensive-but it pays its way for freedom and for America.

  John F. Kennedy

  Future, America, Space

  Undelivered Speech to the Dallas Citizens Council, delivered 22 November 1963, Trade Mart, Dallas, Texas

• The efforts of governments alone will never be enough. In the end, the people must choose and the people must help themselves.

  John F. Kennedy

  Government, People, Effort

  Latin American Diplomatic Corps Reception Speech, delivered day 13 March 1961, East Room, White House

• I dont think that unless a greater effort is made by the Government to win popular support that the war can be won out there. In the final analysis, it is their war. They are the ones who have to win it or lose it. We can help them, we can give them equipment, we can send our men out there as advisers, but they have to win it, the people of Viet-Nam, against the Communists.

  John F. Kennedy

  War, Winning, Men

• 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.

  John F. Kennedy

  Inspirational, Country, Effort

  Kennedy, John F. (1962). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1961”, p.89, Best Books on

• I do not belive that Washington should do for the people wha they can do for themselves through local and private effort.

  John F. Kennedy

  People, Effort, Politics

  "Would Democrats embrace JFK now?" by Jeff Jacoby, www.bostonglobe.com. October 20, 2013.

• To those peoples in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required - not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

  John F. Kennedy

  Peace, Struggle, Best Effort

  Inaugural Address, 20 Jan. 1961

• The White House was designed by Hoban, a noted Irish-American architect, and I have no doubt that he believed by incorporating several features of the Dublin style he would make it more homelike for any President of Irish descent. It was a long wait, but I appreciate his efforts.

  John F. Kennedy

  White, Long, Appreciate

  Address Before the Irish Parliament, delivered 28 June 1963, Dublin, Ireland

• While we cannot guarantee that we shall one day be first, we can guarantee that any failure to make this effort will make us last.

  John F. Kennedy

  Guarantees That, Effort, One Day

  Speech to Congress on Urgent National Needs, delivered 25 May 1961, Washington, D.C.

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