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But 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.

— John F. Kennedy Profiles in Courage (1956)

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More quotes by John F. Kennedy

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

While we shall never weary in the defense of freedom, neither shall we ever abandon the pursuit of peace.

This nation has tossed its cap over the wall of space, and we have no choice but to follow it.

A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers.

Without debate, without criticism, no Administration and no country can succeed — and no republic can survive.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: John F. Kennedy (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.