10 quotes that helped define JFK's legacy to celebrate his 100th birthday

WASHINGTON (Sinclair Broadcast Group) - Former President John F. Kennedy will be celebrating his 100th birthday on May 29th. One of the many things the former President was known for was his gift of oration. Here are 10 quotes once said by Kennedy that helped define the legacy he left after his tragic death.

1.“The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were and ask "why not?"

John F. Kennedy was the first Catholic to become president of the United States. The Irish-American chose to visit Ireland to encourage the country to continue their contributions to the United Nations. He also spoke out against Britain treating Irish Catholics unfairly in an address to the Irish Parliament on June 28th, 1963.

2."A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on. Ideas have endurance without death.”

Kennedy was speaking at the opening of a transmitter complex in Greenville, North Carolina. The transmitter’s purpose was to distribute the signal of Voice of America, the United States’ government’s own radio station. The station would serve as a way to reach countries that don’t have free press with “America’s story,” as Kennedy framed it himself. The hope for the station was to carry the idea of Democracy to nations that ran under a different system of government.

3.“Those of us who hold high office and high responsibilities are subject to all of the scrutiny--the careful scrutiny--which comes from a free press and a free people, operating within an open society.”

President Kennedy was giving remarks to a group of foreign students outside of the White House lawn. The students came 95 different countries around the world. In his speech, Kennedy urged the students to hold their leaders accountable for their actions and to be “future leaders of your country.”

4."This country has always served as a lantern in the dark for those who love freedom but are persecuted, in misery, or in need."

In a letter to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House, Kennedy proposed a bill that would extend the foreign aid the United States provides to other countries. Kennedy believed the United States should be the place desperate refugees came to for assistance.

5.“I believe in an America where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all."

The religion of President Kennedy was under major scrutiny during the course of his campaign for the Presidency. Kennedy served as the first Catholic president and therefore raised concerns among Protestants. Many wondered whether he could make decisions as the leader of the free world without influence from The Vatican or The Catholic Church. On Sept. 12, 1960, Kennedy spoke about his views on religion in a speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association.

6.“Terror is not a new weapon. Throughout history it has been used by those who could not prevail, either by persuasion or example. But inevitably they fail, either because men are not afraid to die for a life worth living, or because the terrorists themselves came to realize that free men cannot be frightened by threats, and that aggression would meet its own response.”

During the General Assembly of 1961, Kennedy delivered an address to the United Nations calling for unity in combatting terrorism. The speech came after the death of former UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold, who died in a mysterious plane crash. There was also major tension between the Russia and U.S. as well as tiff in the relationship between Cuba and the United States. With all of this drama happening, Kennedy pledged to fight terrorism from occurring.

7.“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

American ingenuity was a theme of a speech President Kennedy gave in 1962 at Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas. Kennedy wanted Americans to support the Apollo program whose mission was to get a man on the moon. 35,000 people listened to the speech in person. 11 astronauts eventually lived up to Kennedy’s dream and landed on the moon on July 20, 1969.

8.“Every area of trouble gives out a ray of hope--and the one unchangeable certainty is that nothing is certain or unchangeable.”

Kennedy address the Senate and the House in his annual State of the Union speech. He mentioned his goal of putting a man on the moon but also spoke about the economy and how to reduce unemployment. In this specific quote, Kennedy is discussing what it takes to reach legislative goals.

9. "This nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds. It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.”

Criticism flowed in President Kennedy’s direction from civil rights activists and protesters who believed Kennedy wasn’t doing enough to address this issue. A key moment occurred when two black students were prevented from going to class at the University of Alabama by Gov. George C. Wallace. The event influenced Kennedy to speak and led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

10.“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.”

The last holiday Kennedy officially celebrated in a Presidential capacity before passing away was Thanksgiving. In his speech, the President gave a proclamation in which he pardoned a turkey and encouraged Americans to live by their words. He also praised the nation’s forefathers “or the decency of purpose, steadfastness of resolve and strength of will, for the courage and the humility, which they possessed and which we must seek every day to emulate.”