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

“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

“Liberty without Learning is always in peril and Learning without Liberty is always in vain.”

“If by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people-their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights and their civil liberties-someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal", then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal.”

“A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on. Ideas have endurance without death.”

“I'm an idealist without illusions.[Ca. 1953, attributed to John F. Kennedy by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. in 'A Thousand Days'”

“The stories of past courage can define that ingredient- they can teach, they can offer hope, they can provide inspiration. But they cannot provide courage itself. For this each man must look into his own soul.”