Citizenship

Democracy cannot be answered by supermen, but only by the unswerving devotion and goodness of millions of little men.

And so my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens fof the world:  ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice that we ask of you.  With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.

Honest people know that the road to success and virtue always involves shared sacrifice, hard work, and gratification postponed.  Telling people otherwise isn't leadership, it is pandering. 

Our commitment should be to leave our environment in better shape than when we found it, our nation's fiscal house in better order, our public infrastructure in better repair, and our people better educated and healthier.  To indulge in immediate gratification and exploitation is an insult to previous generations, who sacrificed for us, and thievery from the next generation, who depend on our virtue. 

True patriots measure themselves not by personal wealth or power but by the degree to which they contribute to the community. 

To love country means to rise above "I am because I am."  It is to recognize that "I am because we are."

Love of country cannot be a supersized version of individual narcissism.  True love of country--of this country--is love of our children, of a creed that promises them a better life before it promises us anything, and embraces the sacrifices needed to make that better life. True love of country is giving ourselves to a cause and a purpose larger than ourselves.  And that cause is to make liberty worth having, to make the pursuit of happiness deeper than the quest for personal pleasure, and to leave a legacy of progress and possibility. 

At the heart of our public morality is the idea that he who gives generously is most virtuous and morally praiseworthy; that there is no greater citizen than she who sacrifices; and that there is no greater measure of worth than contribution.  These are values we can be proud of.  After all, there is no moral system or religion on earth where the guiding ethic is "grab more for yourself."

True patriots believe that we should measure a citizen's worth by contribution to country and community, not by wealth or power--that those whom America has benefited most should contribute in proportion to their good fortune--and that serving others should be esteemed more highly than serving self. 

Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.

To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.

The voice of protest, of warning, of appeal is never more needed than when the clamor of fife and drum, echoed by the press and too often by the pulpit, is bidding all men fall in step and obey in silence the tyrannous word of command. Then, more than ever, it is the duty of the good citizen not to be silent.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

I slept and dreamed that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted, and behold, service was joy.

Strive constantly to serve the welfare of the world; by devotion to selfless work one attains the supreme goal of life.

A talent is formed in stillness, a character in the world's torrent.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

It is not the function of our Government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the Government from falling into error.

Without free, self-respecting, and autonomous citizens there can be no free and independent nations. Without internal peace, that is, peace among citizens and between the citizens and the state, there can be no guarantee of external peace.