Commentating on quotations is always fraught with danger as there is inevitably the threat of murdering exegesis. At odds with my own common sense I can’t help but want to stare down some poignant quotes from a wonderfully inspirational leader and ex-President of the United States, John F. Kennedy (JFK).
These quotes are found from wikiquote.[1] The following quote recognises the limitations JFK himself recognises; in that, there is peace. He freely and humbly admits the admissible:
“In short, we must face problems which do not lend themselves to easy or quick or permanent solutions. And we must face the fact that the United States is neither omnipotent nor omniscient, that we are only six percent of the world's population, that we cannot impose our will upon the other ninety-four percent of mankind, that we cannot right every wrong or reverse each adversity, and that therefore there cannot be an American solution to every world problem.”
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-Speech at the University of Washington, Seattle, (16 September, 1961)
The following quote is an inspiration because JFK is choosing the hard, if not impossible, goal. He chooses to stretch the minds and sinews of his nation:
“But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”
-Rice University Speech, Houston, Texas (12 September, 1962)
The arts lead us to truth every bit as much as the sciences. The sciences may be more objective but they quickly lead us to delusion too when pursued without appropriate perspective. The greatest art is the art of creation. Less than a month from his assassination, JFK finds art the medium for respecting life:
“When power leads men towards 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.”
-Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts (26 October, 1963)
What a way to begin office. The boldness and brilliance of leading into the unknown, not swayed by the enormity of the task at hand:
“All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.”
-Inaugural Address, Washington D.C. (20 January, 1961)
Copyright © 2008, S. J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
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