1.
2. "We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."
—Commencement address at Yale University, 1962
3. "We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives."
—1963
4. "Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names."
—1962
5. "Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate."
—Inaugural address, 1961
6.
7. "Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth."
—Address to the United Nations, 1961
8.
9. "Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future."
—Address in the Assembly Hall at the Paulskirche in Frankfurt,1963
10. "And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country."
—Inaugural address, 1961
11. "If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity."
—American University commencement address, 1963
12. "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."
—Loyola College annual alumni banquet, 1958
13.
14. "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, that pursuit must go on."
15. "Without debate, without criticism, no administration and no country can succeed, and no republic can survive."
—Speech to the American Newspaper Publishers Association, 1961
16. "If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich."
—Inaugural address, 1961
17. "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."
—Thanksgiving Day proclamation, 1963