Skip to content

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

— John F. Kennedy

Another quote →

Source, in full

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

Topics

War

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.

All John F. Kennedy quotes →

You may also like

All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.

Albert Einstein Moral Decay (1937)

The last half of the 20th century will seem like a wild party for rich kids, compared to what's coming now.

Hunter S. Thompson

Only the dead have seen the end of war.

George Santayana Soliloquies in England and Later Soliloquies (1922)

Wars produce many stories of fiction, some of which are told until they are believed to be true.

Ulysses S. Grant Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant (1885)

Attribution

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.