Robert Kennedy Quotes
Famous Bobby Kennedy Quotes
Robert Kennedy was a U.S. politician and the younger brother of John F. Kennedy. He believed in many of JFK’s principles and ideals. As the Attorney General and one of the president’s trusted advisors, Robert Kennedy later served as a senator. Robert Kennedy quotes reflect his ideals in America and his push for change. There are many famous Bobby Kennedy quotes that deal with everything from social issues of the time to political agendas during an era of crisis. Here are some of the best Robert Kennedy quotes.
"It is not enough to understand, or to see clearly. The future will be shaped in the arena of human activity, by those willing to commit their minds and their bodies to the task."
"Some men see things as they are and say, ‘Why’? I dream of things that never were and say, ‘Why not’?"
"It is the shaping impulse of America that neither fate nor nature nor the irresistible tides of history, but the work of our own hands, matched to reason and principle, which can determine destiny. There is pride in that, even arrogance, but there is also experience and truth. In any event, it is the only way we can live."
"It is the shaping impulse of America that neither fate nor nature nor the irresistible tides of history, but the work of our own hands, matched to reason and principle, which can determine destiny. There is pride in that, even arrogance, but there is also experience and truth. In any event, it is the only way we can live."
"The problem of power is how to achieve its responsible use rather than its irresponsible and indulgent use — of how to get men of power to live for the public rather than off the public."
"What is objectionable, what is dangerous, about extremists is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents."
"People say I am ruthless. I am not ruthless. And if I find the man who is calling me ruthless, I shall destroy him."
"What matters about this country cannot be put into simple slogans; it is a process, a way of doing things and dealing with people. A way of life. There are two major ways to communicate what this country is really about: to bring people here, or to send Americans abroad."
"On this generation of Americans falls the burden of proving to the world that we really mean it when we say all men are created free and are equal before the law. All of us might wish at times that we lived in a more tranquil world, but we don't. And if our times are difficult and perplexing, so are they challenging and filled with opportunity."
"But suppose God is black? What if we go to Heaven and we, all our lives, have treated the Negro as an inferior, and God is there, and we look up and He is not white? What then is our response?"
"At the heart of that Western freedom and democracy is the belief that the individual man, the child of God, is the touchstone of value, and all society, all groups, and states, exist for his benefit. Therefore the enlargement of liberty for individual human beings must be the supreme goal and the abiding practice of any Western society."
"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation."
"This is not about character assassination, ... This is about questioning the ideology of a person who has continuously throughout her career made, really, a life's work of eroding and destroying the mission of the department she is now being named to lead."
"One-fifth of the people are against everything all the time."
"Time and time again the American people, facing danger and seemingly insurmountable odds, have mobilized the ingenuity, resourcefulness, strength, and bravery to meet the situation and triumph. In this long and critical struggle, the American System of free enterprise must be our major weapon. We must continue to prove to the world that we can provide a rising standard of living for all men without the loss of civil rights or human dignity to any man."
"Since the days of Greece and Rome when the word 'citizen' was a title of honor, we have often seen more emphasis put on the rights of citizenship than on its responsibilities. And today, as never before in the free world, responsibility is the greatest right of citizenship and service is the greatest of freedom's privileges."
"Our answer is the world's hope; it is to rely on youth. The cruelties and the obstacles of this swiftly changing planet will not yield to obsolete dogmas and outworn slogans. It cannot be moved by those who cling to a present which is already dying, who prefer the illusion of security to the excitement and danger which comes with even the most peaceful progress. This world demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease."
"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly."
"The great challenge to all Americans—indeed to all free men and women—is to maintain loyalty to truth; to maintain loyalty to free institutions; to maintain loyalty to freedom as a basic human value, and above all else to keep in our hearts and minds the tolerance and mutual trust that have been the genius of American life throughout our history."
"I believe that, as long as there is plenty, poverty is evil."
"Victims of the violence are black and white, rich and poor, young and old, famous and unknown. They are most important of all, human beings whom other human beings loved and needed."
"For there is another kind of violence, slower but just as deadly destructive as the shot or the bomb in the night. This is the violence of institutions; indifference and inaction and slow decay. This is the violence that afflicts the poor, that poisons relations between men because their skin has different colors. This is the slow destruction of a child by hunger, and schools without books and homes without heat in the winter."
"Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world."
"Democracy is no easy form of government. Few nations have been able to sustain it. For it requires that we take the chances of freedom; that the liberating play of reason be brought to bear of events filled with passion; that dissent be allowed to make its appeal for acceptance; that men chance error in their search for the truth."
"The greatest truth must be recognition that in every man, in every child is the potential for greatness."
"This world demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the life of ease."
"I thought they'd get one of us, but Jack, after all he's been through, never worried about it I thought it would be me."
"The challenge of politics and public service is to discover what is interfering with justice and dignity for the individual here and now, and then to decide swiftly upon the appropriate remedies."
"The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of bold projects and new ideas. Rather, it will belong to those who can blend passion, reason and courage in a personal commitment to the great enterprises and ideals of American society."
"If any man claims the Negro should be content... let him say he would willingly change the color of his skin and go to live in the Negro section of a large city. Then and only then has he a right to such a claim."
Robert Kennedy quotes are definitely a statement of the times from an era of social unrest. Robert Kennedy quotes define issues of race, peace, and a changing America. Like JFK, famous Bobby Kennedy quotes are still heard throughout the halls of congress. Many people draw inspiration from them, even those not in politics. If you are looking for some insight into our society, always remember these Robert Kennedy quotes.