OF COURAGE, FREEDOM, AND FAITH
CHAPTER 1
OF COURAGE, FREEDOM, AND FAITH
THE STORIES OF PAST COURAGE CAN DEFINE THAT INGREDIENT -- THEY CAN TEACH, THEY CAN OFFER HOPE, THEY CAN PROVIDE INSPIRATION. BUT THEY CAN NOT SUPPLY COURAGE ITSELF. FOR THIS EACH MAN MUST LOOK INTO HIS OWN SOUL.
IN SUCH A TIME AS TODAY, THE LIMITS OF HUMAN ENDEAVOR BECOME MORE APPARENT THAN EVER. WE CAN NOT DEPEND SOLELY ON OUR MATERIAL WEALTH, ON OUR MILITARY MIGHT, ON OUR INTELLECTUAL SKILL PHYSICAL COURAGE TO SEE US SAFELY THROUGH THE SEAS THAT WE MUST SAIL IN THE MONTHS AND YEARS TO COME. ALONG WITH ALL OF THESE, WE NEED FAITH.
THE GUIDING PRINCIPLE AND PRAYER OF THIS NATION HAS BEEN, IS NOW, AND SHALL EVER BE "IN GOD WE TRUST".
THIS NATION -- NOT RUSSIA -- IS STILL THE LAND OF THE FREE. AND THAT, IN THE LAST ANALYSIS, IS GOING TO MAKE THE DIFFERENCE.
PEACE DOES NOT REST IN CHARTERS AND COVENANTS ALONE. IT LIES IN THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF ALL PEOPLE. AND IN THIS WORLD NO ACT, NO PACT, NO TREATY, NO ORGANIZATION CAN HOPE TO PRESERVE IT WITHOUT THE SUPPORT AND THE WHOLEHEARTED COMMITMENT OF ALL PEOPLE.
IN WHATEVER ARENA OF LIFE ONE MAY MEET THE CHALLENGE OF COURAGE, WHATEVER MAY BE THE SACRIFICES HE FACES IF HE FOLLOWS HIS CONSCIENCE -- THE LOSS OF HIS FRIENDS, HIS FORTUNE, HIS CONTENTMENT, EVEN THE ESTEEM OF HIS FELLOW-MEN -- EACH MAN MUST DECIDE FOR HIMSELF THE COURSE HE WILL FOLLOW.
THE MEANING OF COURAGE, LIKE POLITICAL MOTIVATIONS, IS FREQUENTLY MISUNDERSTOOD. SOME ENJOY THE EXCITEMENT OF ITS BATTLE BUT FAIL TO NOTE THE IMPLICATIONS OF ITS CONSEQUENCES. SOME ADMIRE ITS VIRTUES IN OTHER MEN AND OTHER TIMES BUT FAIL TO COMPREHEND ITS CURRENT POTENTIALITIES.
WITHOUT BELITTLING THE COURAGE WITH WHICH MEN HAVE DIED, WE SHOULD NOT FORGET THOSE ACTS OF COURAGE WITH WHICH MEN HAVE LIVED.
TO BE COURAGEOUS REQUIRES NO EXCEPTIONAL QUALIFICATIONS, NO MAGIC FORMULA, NO SPECIAL COMBINATION OF TIME, PLACE, AND CIRCUMSTANCES. IT IS AN OPPORTUNITY THAT SOONER OR LATER IS PRESENTED TO US ALL.
THE COURAGE OF LIFE IS OFTEN A LESS DRAMATIC SPECTACLE THAN THE COURAGE OF A FINAL MOMENT; BUT IS NO LESS A MAGNIFICENT MIXTURE OF TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY.
IN EVERY CELEBRATION OF ENDING AND BEGINNING THERE IS BOTH THE REMEMBRANCE OF TRIBULATION AND THE ANTICIPATION OF GOOD. THERE IS, TOO, THE KNOWLEDGE THAT SUFFERING MUST MAKE BOTH A PEOPLE AND A MAN MORE CERTAIN OF THE RIGHT, WHILE TRIUMPH BRINGS WITH IT THE COMMAND TO RESPECT THE RIGHT.
SOME SAY THAT THEY ARE TIRING OF THIS TASK, OR TIRED OF WORLD PROBLEMS AND THEIR COMPLEXITIES, OR TIRED OF HEARING THOSE WHO RECEIVE OUR AID DISAGREE WITH US. BUT ARE WE TIRED OF LIVING IN A FREE WORLD?
IN THE DAYS AHEAD, ONLY THE VERY COURAGEOUS WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE THE HARD AND UNPOPULAR DECISIONS NECESSARY FOR OUR SURVIVAL IN THE STRUGGLE WITH A POWERFUL ENEMY -- AN ENEMY WITH LEADERS WHO NEED GIVE LITTLE THOUGHT TO THE POPULARITY OF THEIR COURSE, WHO NEED PAY LITTLE TRIBUTE TO THE PUBLIC OPINION THEY THEMSELVES MANIPULATE, AND WHO MAY FORCE, WITHOUT FEAR OF RETALIATION AT THE POLLS, THEIR CITIZENS TO SACRIFICE PRESENT LAUGHTER FOR FUTURE GLORY.
WE KNOW NOW THAT FREEDOM IS MORE THAN THE REJECTION OF TYRANNY, THAT PROSPERITY IS MORE THAN AN ESCAPE FROM WANT, THAT PARTNERSHIP IS MORE THAN A SHARING OF POWER. THESE ARE ALL, ABOVE ALL, GREAT HUMAN ADVENTURES... WE ARE CALLED TO A GREAT NEW MISSION. IT IS NOT A MISSION OF ARBITRARY POWER... THE MISSION IS TO CREATE A NEW SOCIAL ORDER, FOUNDED ON LIBERTY AND JUSTICE, IN WHICH MEN ARE THE MASTERS OF THEIR FATE, IN WHICH STATES ARE THE SERVANTS OF THEIR CITIZENS AND IN WHICH ALL MEN AND WOMEN CAN SHARE A BETTER LIFE FOR THEMSELVES AND THEIR CHILDREN.
HOWEVER CLOSE WE SOMETIMES SEEM TO THAT DARK AND FINAL ABYSS, LET NO MAN OF PEACE AND FREEDOM DESPAIR.
FOR OF THOSE TO WHOM MUCH IS GIVEN, MUCH IS REQUIRED. AND WHEN AT SOME FUTURE DATE THE HIGH COURT OF HISTORY SITS IN JUDGEMENT ON EACH OF US, RECORDING WHETHER IN OUR BRIEF SPAN OF SERVICE WE FULFILLED OUR RESPONSIBILITIES TO THE STATE, OUR SUCCESS OR FAILURE, IN WHATEVER OFFICE WE HOLD, WILL BE MEASURED BY THE ANSWERS TO FOUR QUESTIONS; FIRST, WERE WE TRULY MEN OF COURAGE...? SECOND, WERE WE TRULY MEN OF JUDGEMENT...? THIRD, WERE WE TRULY MEN OF INTEGRITY...? FINALLY, WERE WE TRULY MEN OF DEDICATION...?
IF THE SELF-DISCIPLINE OF THE FREE CAN NOT MATCH THE IRON DISCIPLINE OF THE MAILED FIST, IN ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, SCIENTIFIC, AND ALL OTHER KINDS OF STRUGGLES AS WELL AS THE MILITARY, THEN THE PERIL TO FREEDOM WILL CONTINUE TO RISE.
OUR PROGRAMS MUST AIM AT EXPANDING AMERICAN PRODUCTIVE CAPACITY AT A RATE THAT SHOWS THE WORLD THE VIGOR AND VITALITY OF A FREE ECONOMY.
ANY DANGEROUS SPOT IS TENABLE IF MEN -- BRAVE MEN -- WILL MAKE IT SO.
OUR FOREMOST AIM IS THE CONTROL OF FORCE, NOT THE PURSUIT OF FORCE, IN A WORLD MADE SAFE FOR MANKIND. BUT WHATEVER THE FUTURE BRINGS, I AM SWORN TO UPHOLD AND DEFEND THE FREEDOM OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, AND I INTEND TO DO WHATEVER MUST BE DONE TO FULFILL THAT SOLEMN OBLIGATION.
YOU CAN'T HAVE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM WITHOUT POLITICAL FREEDOM, AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM HAS NO SIGNIFICANCE UNLESS IT IS ACCOMPANIED BY CONVICTION.
WHEREVER WE ARE, WE MUST ALL, IN OUR DAILY LIVES, LIVE UP TO THE AGE-OLD FAITH THAT FREEDOM AND PEACE WALK TOGETHER.
JUST AS THE FAMILY OF MAN IS NOT LIMITED TO A SINGLE RACE OR RELIGION, NEITHER CAN IT BE LIMITED TO A SINGLE CITY OR COUNTRY. THE FAMILY OF MAN IS MORE THAN 3 BILLION STRONG. IT LIVES IN MORE THAN 100 NATIONS.
ONLY THE STRENGTH AND PROGRESS AND PEACEFUL CHANGE THAT COME FROM INDEPENDENT JUDGMENT AND INDIVIDUAL IDEAS CAN ENABLE US TO SURPASS THAT FOREIGN IDEOLOGY THAT FEARS FREE THOUGHT MORE THAN IT FEARS HYDROGEN BOMBS.
WHILE THE BERLIN WALL IS THE MOST OBVIOUS AND VIVID DEMONSTRATION OF THE FAILURES OF THE COMMUNIST SYSTEM, FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE, WE TAKE NO SATISFACTION IN IT, FOR IT IS AN OFFENSE NOT ONLY AGAINST HISTORY BUT AN OFFENSE AGAINST HUMANITY, SEPARATING FAMILIES, DIVIDING HUSBANDS AND WIVES AND BROTHERS AND SISTERS, AND DIVIDING A PEOPLE WHO WISH TO BE JOINED TOGETHER.
A CITY DOES NOT BECOME FREE MERELY BY CALLING IT A "FREE CITY." FOR A CITY OR A PEOPLE TO BE FREE REQUIRES THAT THEY BE GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY, WITHOUT ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, OR POLICE PRESSURE, TO MAKE THEIR OWN CHOICE AND TO LIVE THEIR OWN LIVES.
A MAN DOES WHAT HE MUST -- IN SPITE OF PERSONAL CONSEQUENCES, IN SPITE OF OBSTACLES AND DANGERS AND PRESSURES -- AND THAT IS THE BASIS OF ALL HUMAN MORALITY.
WHEN PARTY AND OFFICEHOLDER DIFFER AS TO HOW THE NATIONAL INTEREST IS TO BE SERVED, WE MUST PLACE FIRST THE RESPONSIBILITY WE OWE NOT TO OUR PARTY OR EVEN TO OUR CONSTITUENTS BUT TO OUR INDIVIDUAL CONSCIENCES.
WE MUST PRESENT TO THE WORLD A CONCEPT OF FREEDOM WHICH HAS NOT BEEN DILUTED BY THE EVILS OF PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION. AS WOODROW WILSON ONCE SAID IN AN ADDRESS ON CITIZENSHIP: "NO AMOUNT OF DWELLING UPON THE IDEA OF LIBERTY AND OF JUSTICE WILL ACCOMPLISH THE OBJECT WE HAVE IN VIEW UNLESS WE OURSELVES ILLUSTRATE THE IDEA OF JUSTICE AND LIBERTY."
DIFFICULT DAYS NEED NOT BE DARK. I THINK THESE ARE PROUD AND MEMORABLE DAYS IN THE CAUSE OF PEACE AND FREEDOM... WE HAVE EVERY REASON TO BELIEVE THAT OUR TIDE IS RUNNING STRONG.
TOGETHER, LET US BUILD STURDY MANSIONS OF FREEDOM, MANSIONS THAT ALL THE WORLD CAN ADMIRE AND COPY, BUT THAT NO TYRANT CAN EVER ENTER.
WHILE MAINTAINING OUR READINESS FOR WAR, LET US EXHAUST EVERY AVENUE FOR PEACE. LET US ALWAYS MAKE CLEAR OUR WILLINGNESS TO TALK, IF TALK WILL HELP, AND OUR READINESS TO FIGHT, IF FIGHT WE MUST.
LET US RESOLVE TO BE THE MASTERS, NOT THE VICTIMS, OR OUR HISTORY, CONTROLLING OUR OWN DESTINY WITHOUT GIVING WAY TO BLIND SUSPICION AND EMOTION.
THE MAKING OF PEACE IS THE NOBLEST WORK OF GOD-FEARING MEN.
IT IS THE FATE OF THIS GENERATION TO LIVE WITH A STRUGGLE WE DID NOT START, IN A WORLD WE DID NOT MAKE. BUT THE PRESSURES OF LIFE ARE NOT ALWAYS DISTRIBUTED BY CHOICE. AND WHILE NO NATION HAS EVER FACED SUCH A CHALLENGE, NO NATION HAS EVER BEEN SO READY TO SEIZE THE BURDEN AND THE GLORY OF FREEDOM.
THIS IS A DIFFICULT FIGHT. IT IS NOT EASY. IF IT WERE EASY, WE WOULD NOT BE TALKING ABOUT IT NOW. BUT ALL I AM SAYING IS THAT WE ARE COMMITTING OURSELVES TO THE FIGHT.
IF WE CAN NOT END NOW OUR DIFFERENCES, AT LEAST WE CAN HELP MAKE THE WORLD SAFE FOR DIVERSITY. FOR IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS, 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.
WHEN WRITTEN IN CHINESE, THE WORD "CRISIS" IS COMPOSED OF TWO CHARACTERS -- ONE REPRESENTS DANGER AND ONE REPRESENTS OPPORTUNITY.
LET US NOT REST ALL OUR HOPES ON PARCHMENT AND ON PAPER. LET US STRIVE TO BUILD PEACE, A DESIRE FOR PEACE, A WILLINGNESS TO WORK FOR PEACE, IN THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF ALL OF OUR PEOPLE. I BELIEVE THAT WE CAN. I BELIEVE THE PROBLEMS OF HUMAN DESTINY ARE NOT BEYOND THE REACH OF HUMAN BEINGS.
THE PATH WE HAVE CHOSEN FOR THE PRESENT IS FULL OF HAZARDS, AS ALL PATHS ARE, BUT IT IS THE ONE MOST CONSISTENT WITH OUR CHARACTER AND COURAGE AS A NATION AND OUR COMMITMENTS AROUND THE WORLD. THE COST OF FREEDOM IS ALWAYS HIGH, BUT AMERICANS HAVE ALWAYS PAID IT. AND ONE PATH WE SHALL NEVER CHOOSE, AND THAT IS THE PATH OF SURRENDER OR SUBMISSION.
AMERICA FACES CHALLENGES GREATER THAN ANY WHICH IT HAS FACED BEFORE. THIS IS NO TIME FOR COMPLACENCY. THIS IS NO TIME TO ABANDON THE DRIVE AND THE OPTIMISM AND THE IMAGINATIVE CREATIVITY WHICH HAVE CHARACTERIZED THIS COUNTRY SINCE ITS BIRTH. THIS IS NO TIME FOR TIMIDITY OR DOUBT. THIS IS A TIME FOR TIMIDITY OR DOUBT. THIS IS A TIME FOR BOLDNESS AND ENERGY. THIS IS A TIME FOR STOUT-HEARTED MEN WHO CAN TURN DREAMS INTO REALITY.
I BELIEVE IN AN AMERICA WHERE THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE IS ABSOLUTE -- WHERE NO CATHOLIC PRELATE WOULD TELL THE PRESIDENT HOW TO ACT, AND NO PROTESTANT MINISTER WOULD TELL HIS PARISHIONERS FOR WHOM TO VOTE -- AND WHERE NO MAN IS DENIED PUBLIC OFFICE MERELY BECAUSE HIS RELIGION DIFFERS FROM THE PRESIDENT WHO MIGHT APPOINT HIM OR THE PEOPLE WHO MIGHT ELECT HIM.
IF WE SUCCEED IN THIS COUNTRY, IF WE MAKE THIS A GREAT COUNTRY TO LIVE IN, IF WE REFLECT OUR VITALITY AND ENERGY AND STRENGTH AROUND THE WORLD, THEN THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM IS STRENGTHENED. BUT IF WE FAIL, ALL FAIL. IF WE STAND STILL, FREEDOM STANDS STILL.
IT IS ONLY WHEN THE IRON IS HOT THAT IT CAN BE MOLDED. THE IRON OF THE NEW WORLD BEING FORGED TODAY IS NOW READY TO BE MOLDED. OUR JOB IS TO SHAPE IT, SO FAR AS WE CAN, INTO THE WORLD WE WANT FOR OURSELVES AND OUR CHILDREN AND FOR ALL MEN.
THERE WAS, IN KOREA, A YOUNG PRISONER OF WAR WHO WAS SINGLED OUT OF THE LINE-UP UPON CAPTURE AND ASKED HIS OPINION OF GENERAL MARSHALL. "GENERAL GEORGE C. MARSHALL", HE REPLIED, " IS A GREAT AMERICAN SOLDIER." PROMPTLY A RIFLE BUTT KNOCKED HIM TO THE GROUND. THEN HE WAS STOOD UP AGAIN TO FACE HIS CAPTORS -- AND AGAIN HE WAS ASKED: "WHAT DO YOU THINK OF GENERAL MARSHALL?" AND AGAIN HE GAVE THE SAME STEADFAST REPLY -- ONLY THIS TIME THERE WAS NO RIFLE BUTT, NO PUNISHMENT AT ALL. THEY HAD TESTED HIS WILL, HIS COURAGE TO RESIST, HIS MANHOOD -- AND NOW THEY KNEW WHERE TO CLASSIFY HIM.
IT IS, I THINK, OUR INTENTION TO BEAR IN MIND THE WORDS OF LINCOLN DURING THE DARKEST DAYS OF THE CIVIL WAR. MANY WERE FEARFUL OF THE OUTCOME AND MANY WERE CONCERNED ABOUT OUR SURVIVAL, AND WHEN A DELEGATION CALLED ON THE PRESIDENT TO EXPRESS ITS FEARS, LINCOLN TOLD THEM OF AN EXPERIENCE OF HIS YOUTH. "ONE NIGHT IN NOVEMBER," HE SAID, "A SHOWER OF METEORS FELL FROM THE CLEAR NIGHT SKY. A FRIEND STANDING BY WAS FRIGHTENED. BUT I LOOKED UP AND BETWEEN THE FALLING STARS I SAW THE FIXED STARS BEYOND, SHINING SERENE IN THE FIRMAMENT, AND I SAID, 'LET US NOT MIND THE METEORS, LET US KEEP OUR EYES ON THE STARS'." AS WE FACE A DIFFICULT AND SOMETIMES DANGEROUS FUTURE, LET US LOOK BEYOND THE FALLING METEORS OF THE PRESENT AND LOOK TO THE STEADY STARS THAT HAVE GUIDED THIS COUNTRY THROUGH SO MANY DIFFICULT TIMES.
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CHAPTER ONE "OF COURAGE, FREEDOM, AND FAITH" FROM THE BOOK "JOHN F. KENNEDY: WORDS TO REMEMBER" WRITTEN BY: JOHN F. KENNEDY
BOOK PUBLISHED BY: HALLMARK
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