John F. Kennedy's Legacy in Quotes

Words to live by: In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy's assassination, take a look back at some of his most poignant quotes
By People Staff
Updated November 20, 2013 04:00 PM

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"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."
– President Kennedy's commencement address at American University, June 10, 1963

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"If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity."
– President Kennedy's commencement address at American University, June 10, 1963

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"Man is still the most extraordinary computer of all."
– JFK's remarks upon presenting the NASA Distinguished Service Medal to astronaut L. Gordon Cooper, in the Flower Garden of the White House, May 21, 1963

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"A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on. Ideas have endurance without death."
– JFK's remarks at the opening of a USIA Transmitter in Greenville, N.C., February 8, 1963

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"Once you say you're going to settle for second, that's what happens to you in life."
– John F. Kennedy

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"Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future."
– JFK's address at St. Paul's Church in Frankfurt, Germany, June 25, 1963

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