In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility - I welcome it.

All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin. And therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words 'Ich bin ein Berliner!'

The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.

The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are. The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.

We cannot expect that all nations will adopt like systems, for conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.

Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.

If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.

Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.

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.

The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth.

A child miseducated is a child lost.

It might be said now that I have the best of both worlds. A Harvard education and a Yale degree.

Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource.

Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce.

We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light the candle that can guide us thru that darkness to a safe and sane future.

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.

I look forward to a great future for America - a future in which our country will match its military strength with our moral restraint, its wealth with our wisdom, its power with our purpose.

Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.

For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.

Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.

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.

To state the facts frankly is not to despair the future nor indict the past. The prudent heir takes careful inventory of his legacies and gives a faithful accounting to those whom he owes an obligation of trust.

Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners, and necessity has made us allies. Those whom God has so joined together, let no man put asunder.

Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly.

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

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

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.

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

The tax on capital gains directly affects investment decisions, the mobility and flow of risk capital... the ease or difficulty experienced by new ventures in obtaining capital, and thereby the strength and potential for growth in the economy.

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

We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world or to make it the last.

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.

I don't think the intelligence reports are all that hot. Some days I get more out of the New York Times.

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 time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.

In a time of domestic crisis, men of goodwill and generosity should be able to unite regardless of party or politics.

We must use time as a tool, not as a couch.

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.

The greater our knowledge increases the more our ignorance unfolds.

When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.

Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.

Politics is like football; if you see daylight, go through the hole.

It is an unfortunate fact that we can secure peace only by preparing for war.

The world knows that America will never start a war. This generation of Americans has had enough of war and hate... we want to build a world of peace where the weak are secure and the strong are just.

I'm always rather nervous about how you talk about women who are active in politics, whether they want to be talked about as women or as politicians.

Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans - born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace.

Communism has never come to power in a country that was not disrupted by war or corruption, or both.

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

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.

We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For 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.