John Kennedy
"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." Full speech here.
John Kennedy
"My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
Abraham Lincoln
"Government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the Earth."
Ronald Reagan
"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
Benjamin Harrison
"I pity the man who wants a coat so cheap that the man or woman who produces the cloth will starve in the process."
William Howard Taft
"We are all imperfect. We cannot expect a perfect government."
George W. Bush
"Terrorists can knock down our tallest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America."
Abraham Lincoln
"A house divided against itself cannot stand."
Ronald Reagan
"Heroes may not be braver than anyone else. They're just braver five minutes longer."
Thomas Jefferson
"We're all Republicans. We're all Federalists." (like saying today, "We're all Republicans. We're all Democrats." We're in it together.)
Of course, I always like President Kennedy's famous quotes. Have you read his book, Profiles in courage. He spoke at my college before he was elected, when he was running for office or running to be nominated as the Democratic candidate for President.
My favorite, which I did not know before I was educated by reading Presidential Pages, is Benjamin Harrison's because I think it so apt for many people's attitudes currently. Not the pity part! The wanting everything so cheaply that they have little, if any consideration, for the welfare of the people involved in producing whatever coat or other item they purchase. Humanity is really interconnected. Many people went into producing the piece of fruit I buy at my local market -- the farmer, the maintenance staff and the water company, the pickers and packers, the truckers who haul the crates of fruit, the people involved in getting the trucker's gasoline to the station, the people involved in designing and manufacturing…