Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.
Robert Francis Kennedy (1925-1968) American politician
“Day of Affirmation,” address, University of Capetown, South Africa (6 Jun 1966)
(Source)
Liberty without learning is always in peril; learning without liberty is always in vain.
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) US President (1961-63)
Speech (1963-05-18), Convocation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville
(Source)
To those peoples in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required — not because the communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.
We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) US President (1961-63)
“Remarks on the 20th Anniversary of the Voice of America” (speech), Washington, DC (26 Feb 1962)
(Source)
Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one’s beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) US President (1961-63)
Letter to the National Conference of Christians and Jews Conference (26 Oct 1960)
(Source)
Now the trumpet summons us again — not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need — not as a call to battle, though embattled we are — but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation — a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) US President (1961-63)
Inaugural address (20 Jan 1961)
(Source)
Portions of this are one of the seven quotations by JFK at his grave site in Arlington National Ceremony.
The real test of friendship is: Can you literally do nothing with the other person? Can you enjoy together those moments of life that are utterly simple? They are the moments people look back on at the end of life and number as their most sacred experiences.
Eugene Kennedy (1928-2015) American psychologist, essayist, academic
(Attributed)
Things equal out pretty well. Our dreams seldom come true, but then neither do our nightmares.
Charles Kennedy (1871-1950) Anglo-American dramatist
(Attributed)
The First Amendment is often inconvenient. But that is beside the point. Inconvenience does not absolve the government of its obligation to tolerate speech.
Anthony Kennedy (b. 1936) US Supreme Court Justice
International Society for Krishna Consciousness v. Lee, 505 U.S. 672 (26 Jun 1992) [concurring[
(Source)
It is hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head.
Sally Kempton (b. 1943) American writer, feminist
“Cutting Loose,” Esquire (Jul 1970)
Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it. My optimism, then, does not rest on the absence of evil, but on a glad belief in the preponderance of good and a willing effort always to cooperate with the good, that it may prevail. I try to increase the power God has given me to see the best in everything and every one, and make that Best a part of my life.
I long to accomplish a great and noble task; but it is my chief duty and joy to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. It is my service to think how I can best fulfil the demands that each day makes upon me, and to rejoice that others can do what I cannot. Green, the historian, tells us that the world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker, and that thought alone suffices to guide me in this dark world and wide. I love the good that others do; for their activity is an assurance that whether I can help or not, the true and the good will stand sure.
Helen Keller (1880-1968) American author and lecturer
“Optimism,” Part 1 (1903)
(Source)
Often paraphrased as: "I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker."
No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new Heaven to the human spirit.
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. God Himself is not secure, having given man dominion over His works! Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold. Faith alone defends. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.
Helen Keller (1880-1968) American author and lecturer
Let Us Have Faith, “Faith Fears Not” (1940)
(Source)
Reprinted in her compilation book, The Open Door (1957). This quotation is often given in excerpted form, leaving out certain sentences, or even rearranging some of the sentences and sometimes making it seem that the two sources are actually different.
The highest result of education is tolerance. Long ago men fought and died for their faith; but it took ages to teach them the other kind of courage, — the courage to recognize the faiths of their brethren and their rights of conscience. Tolerance is the first principle of community; it is the spirit which conserves the best that all men think.
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched — they must be felt with the heart.
Helen Keller (1880-1968) American author and lecturer
The Story of My Life (1905)The above is the popular paraphrase. The text as in the book was from a letter from Keller to Rev. Phillips Brooks (8 Jun 1891), which attributed the original thought to her teacher, Anne Sullivan:
I used to wish that I could see pictures with my hands as I do statues, but now I do not often think about it because my dear Father has filled my mind with beautiful pictures, even of things I cannot see. If the light were not in your eyes, dear Mr. Brooks, you would understand better how happy your little Helen was when her teacher explained to her that the best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen nor even touched, but just felt in the heart. Every day I find out something which makes me glad.
More here.
No loss of flood and lightning, no destruction of cities and temples by hostile forces of nature, has deprived man of so many noble lives and impulses as those which his intolerance has destroyed.
This life we have is short, so let us leave a mark for people to remember.
Kip Keino (b. 1940) Kenyan athlete [Kipchoge Keino]
(Attributed)
On why he adopted and educated 69 orphan children.
The way I see it, the world is divided into those go after what they want and those who don’t. The passionate ones, the ones who go after what they want, may not get what they want, but they remain vital, in touch with themselves, and when they lie on their deathbeds, they have few regrets. The ones who don’t go after what they want … well, who gives a shit about them anyway?
Charlie Kaufman (b. 1958) American film producer, writer
Being John Malkovitch (1999)
There is, therefore, only one categorical imperative. It is: Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) German philosopher
Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals [Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten], Sec. 2 (1785) [tr. Beck (1969)]
Alternate translations:
- I ought never to act except in such a way that I could also will that my maxim should become a universal law.
- Act only on that maxim which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.
- Act as if the maxim of thy action were to become by thy will a universal law of nature.
- So act that your principle of action might safely be made a law for the whole world.
- May you live your life as if the maxim of your actions were to become universal law.
- Live your life as though your every act were to become a universal law.
- Do not feel forced to act, as you're only willing to act according to your own universal laws. And that's good. For only willful acts are universal. And that's your maxim.
(As noted in the comments, the "alternate translations" may represent other restatements by Kant of the categorical imperative.)
For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press three.
Alice Kahn (b. 1943) American nurse practitioner and humorist
(Attributed)
There are two main human sins from which all the others derive: impatience and indolence. It was because of impatience that they were expelled from Paradise; it is because of indolence that they do not return. Yet perhaps there is only one major sin: impatience. Because of impatience they were expelled, because of impatience they do not return.
[Es gibt zwei menschliche Hauptsünden, aus welchen sich alle andern ableiten: Ungeduld und Lässigkeit. Wegen der Ungeduld sind sie aus dem Paradiese vertrieben worden, wegen der Lässigkeit kehren sie nicht zurück. Vielleicht aber gibt es nur eine Hauptsünde: die Ungeduld. Wegen der Ungeduld sind sie vertrieben worden, wegen der Ungeduld kehren sie nicht zurück.]
Franz Kafka (1883-1924) Czech-Austrian Jewish writer
Notebook, Aphorism # 3 (1917-10-20) [tr. Kaiser and Wilkins]
In The Blue Octavo Notebooks (1954) and in Dearest Father: Stories and Other Writings (1954); variant translations use "cardinal sins" instead of "main human sins" and "laziness" instead of "indolence", e.g., "There are two cardinal sins from which all others spring: impatience and laziness."
Perhaps there is only one cardinal sin: impatience. Because of impatience we were driven out of Paradise, because of impatience we cannot return.
But who will guard the guardians themselves?
[Sed uis custodiet ipsos custodes?]
Juvenal (c.55-127) Roman satirist [Decimus Junius Juvinalis]
Satires, Satire 6, l. 347 [tr. Evans (1861)]Alt. trans:
The original context in Juvenal is that while a husband might put his wife under guard to prevent her adulteries, who will guard the guards?- "But who is to guard the guards themselves?"
- "But who watches the watchmen?"
And thus, in my folly, afore this time often I wondered why, by the great foreseeing wisdom of God, the beginning of sin was not letted; for then, methought, all should have been well…. But Jesus, who in this Vision informed me of all that is needful to me, answered by this word and said, Sin is behovable, but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.
Juliana of Norwich (1342-1417) English mystic
Revelations of Divine Love (c. 1393)
Original Middle English: "Sinne is behovely, but alle shalle be wele, and alle shalle be wele, and alle maner of thinge shalle be wel.""Behovely" or "behovable" means "necessary" (as in the more common "It behooves me to ...")
This word: Thou shalt not be overcome, was said full clearly and full mightily, for assuredness and comfort against all tribulations that may come. He said not: Thou shalt not be tempested, thou shalt not be travailed, thou shalt not be afflicted; but He said: Thou shalt not be overcome.
Doubt comes in at the window, when Inquiry is denied at the door.
Benjamin Jowett (1817-1893) English classical scholar and theologian
“On the Interpretation of Scripture,” Essays and Reviews (1860)
(Source)
To teach is to learn twice.
[Enseigner, c’est apprendre deux fois.]
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 19 “De l’Éducation [On Education],” ¶ 88 (1850 ed.) [tr. Collins (1928), ch. 18]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translation:To teach is to learn twice over.
[tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 18, ¶ 18]
It is better to debate a question without settling it, than to settle it without debate.
[Il vaut mieux remuer une question sans la décider, que la décider sans la remuer.]
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 8 “De la Famille et de la Société, etc. [On the Family and Society]” ¶ 71 (1850 ed.) [tr. Attwell (1896), ¶ 115]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:It is better to stir a question without deciding it, than to decide it without stirring it.
[tr. Calvert (1866), ch. 8]It is better to turn over a question without deciding it, than to decide it without turning it over.
[tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 7, ¶ 61]It is better to stir up a question without deciding it, than to decide it without stirring it up.
[tr. Collins (1928), ch. 7]It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it.
[Variant]
All gardeners live in beautiful places because they make them so.
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], 1806 [tr. Auster (1983)]
(Source)
I have been unable to find an analog in other translations, or in the original French.
Words, like glass, obscure when they do not aid vision.
[Les mots, comme les verres, obscurcissent tout ce qu’ils n’aident pas à mieux voir.]
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 22 “Du Style [On Style],” ¶ 25 (1850 ed.) [tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 21, ¶ 15]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Words, like glass, darken whatever they do not help us to see.
[tr. Attwell (1896), ¶ 304]Words, like eyeglasses, obscure everything they do not make clear.
[Source]
Those who never retract their opinions love themselves more than they love truth.
[Ceux qui ne se rétractent jamais s’aiment phis que la vérité.]
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 11 “De la Vérité, de l’Illusion et de l’Erreur [Of Truth, Illusion, and Error],” ¶ 57 (1850 ed.) [tr. Attwell (1896), ¶ 161]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:They who never retract, love themselves more than truth.
[tr. Calvert (1866), ch. 10]Those who never retract love themselves better than truth.
[tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 10, ¶ 29]Men who never take back their words love themselves more than truth.
[tr. Collins (1928), ch. 10]Those who never back down love themselves more than they love the truth.
[tr. Auster (1983)], 1806]
Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it.
David Starr Jordan (1851-1931) American biologist and educator
The Philosophy of Hope, 2d Ed. (1907)
Ill fortune never crushed that man whom good fortune deceived not.
Ben Jonson (1572-1637) English playwright and poet
The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio, ‘Timber, or Discoveries Made upon Men and Matter”, “Fortuna” (1640)
(Source)
Do you want me to tell you something really subversive? Love is everything it’s cracked up to be. That’s why people are so cynical about it. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.
Friends come and go, but enemies accumulate.
Thomas F. Jones, Jr. (1916-1981) American educator
(Attributed)
There was nothing funny about what Christ said and what’s funny really is the fact that Christ said all these really good things about Love Thy Neighbor and everything, and then for the next two thousand years people are killing each other and torturing each other because they can’t quite decide how he said it.
Your organization is not a praying institution. It’s a fighting institution. It’s an educational institution along industrial lines. Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living!
He knew sometimes some fear can be good. When you are afraid things are going to get worse if you don’t do something, it can prompt you into action. But it is not good when you are so afraid that it keeps you from doing anything.