John F. Kennedy

“War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.”

Source : Undated Letter to a Navy friend;also mentioned by William Safire in his "On Language" article "Warrior" in theNew York Timesrubric Magazines (26 August 2007);also inA Thousand Days : John F. Kennedy in the White House(1965), by Arthur Schlesinger, p. 88

“If more politicians knew poetry, and more poets knew politics, I am convinced the world would be a little better place in which to live.”

Source : Remarks at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts (14 June 1956); Box 895, Senate Speech Files, John F. Kennedy Papers, Pre-Presidential Papers, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library

“I have just received the following wire from my generous daddy: "Dear Jack – Don’t buy a single vote more than necessary – I’ll be damned if I am going to pay for a landslide."”

Source : Remarks at"The Gridiron Club, Washington, D.C. (March 15, 1958); Box 899, Senate Speech Files, John F. Kennedy Papers, Pre-Presidential Papers; Box 29, David F. Powers Personal Papers, John F. Kennedy Speeches File