While looking for quotes for this site, I was struck by the similarity of thought in two quotes, one by John F. Kennedy and the other by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Decide for yourself if JFK was influenced by Associate Supreme Court Justice Holmes.
John F. Kennedy's memorable line in his Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961:". . . Now the trumpet summons us again - not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are - but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation" - a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.
Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?
In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shank from this responsibility - I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it -- and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. . . ."
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.'s Memorial Day address in Keene, New Hampshire on May 30, 1884:
"Now It is now the moment when by common consent we pause to become conscience of our national life and to rejoice in it, to recall what our country has done for each of us, and to ask ourselves what we can do for our country in return."
What do you think?
