John fitzgerald Kennedy
1.25.21,
In these uncertain times, it is good to remember what can be accomplished with the right spirit. I was a young girl when John Kennedy was seeking to be elected president. He was scheduled to come and campaign in my home town. His schedule had gone awry and he was more than several hours late. I waited all evening in the park for him to show up; a very sizable crowd, some perched in the trees, no one left.
It was dark when he came riding in sitting up on the top of the back seat of a convertible wearing a black suit sporting that thick head of hair. Yes, we believed, in decency, honor, in progress, elegance. We were Americans about to elect a prince among men. Below are some of his words:
“The very word ‘secrecy’ is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths, and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweigh the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in ensuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment."
"If not us, who? If not now, when?"
"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."
"Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try."
"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest form of appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."
"Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly."
"The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all."
"Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger men."
"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other."
"Life is never easy. There is work to be done and obligations to be met—obligations to truth, to justice, and to liberty."
"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."
"The greater our knowledge increases the more our ignorance unfolds."
“Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope or dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our Nation.”
“Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource.”
“Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.
“For the problems are not all solved and the battles are not all won—and we stand today on the edge of a New Frontier…. But the New Frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises—it is a set of challenges. It sums up not what I intend to offer the American people, but what I intend to ask of them.”
“I would rather be accused of breaking precedents than breaking promises.”
“If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can make the world safe for diversity.”
“Our problems are man-made, therefore they can be solved by men. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings.”
“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past are certain to miss the future.”
“Either mankind can bring war to an end, or war brings mankind to an end.”
“A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.
I give the last words to Jacqueline Kennedy:
“Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief, shining moment that was known as Camelot. There’ll be great presidents again … but there will never be another Camelot.”
The favorite essay this past month has been Nagual
