Robert Kennedy Quotes

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Robert Kennedy

Profession : Politician

Birth : November 20, 1925

It is not enough to understand, or to see clearly. The future will be shaped in the arena of human activity, by those willing to commit their minds and their bodies to the task.

Robert Kennedy

People say I am ruthless. I am not ruthless. And if I find the man who is calling me ruthless, I shall destroy him.

Robert Kennedy

What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists, is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents.

Robert Kennedy

I do not run for the presidency merely to oppose any man, but to propose new policies. I run because I am convinced that this country is on a perilous course and because I have such strong feelings about what must be done, and I feel that I'm obliged to do all I can.

Robert Kennedy

Every generation inherits a world it never made; and, as it does so, it automatically becomes the trustee of that world for those who come after. In due course, each generation makes its own accounting to its children.

Robert Kennedy

Lawyers have their duties as citizens, but they also have special duties as lawyers. Their obligations go far deeper than earning a living as specialists in corporation or tax law. They have a continuing responsibility to uphold the fundamental principles of justice from which the law cannot depart.

Robert Kennedy

We know that we cannot live together without rules which tell us what is right and what is wrong, what is permitted and what is prohibited. We know that it is law which enables men to live together, that creates order out of chaos. We know that law is the glue that holds civilization together.

Robert Kennedy

Every American has the duty to obey the law and the right to expect that the law will be enforced.

Robert Kennedy

The tyranny of Communism is as old as the Pharaohs and the Pyramids - that the State stands above all men and their individual aspirations.

Robert Kennedy

Ultimately, Communism must be defeated by progressive political programs which wipe out the poverty, misery, and discontent on which it thrives.

Robert Kennedy

Unions, by and large, are democratic organizations with freely chosen leaders and policies determined by the membership. They concern themselves with individual dignity not only in their aims but in their method. We have no better example of what is worthy of emulation abroad than the workings of a good union.

Robert Kennedy

Now I can go back to being ruthless again.

Robert Kennedy

The poor man looks upon the law as an enemy, not as a friend. For him, the law is always taking something away.

Robert Kennedy

When our forbears - yours and mine - came to America, they came because this country promised them something. It promised them an opportunity, nourished by education, not merely to grind for a bare living, but to strive for a good life.

Robert Kennedy

I thought they'd get one of us, but Jack, after all he's been through, never worried about it I thought it would be me.

Robert Kennedy

The right to vote is the easiest of all rights to grant.

Robert Kennedy

Tolerating organized crime promotes the cheap philosophy that everything is a racket. It promotes cynicism among adults. It contributes to the confusion of the young and to the increase of juvenile delinquency.

Robert Kennedy

Communism everywhere has paid the price of rigidity and dogmatism. Freedom has the strength of compassion and flexibility. It has, above all, the strength of intellectual honesty.

Robert Kennedy

America's answer to the intolerant man is diversity - the very diversity which our heritage of religious freedom has inspired.

Robert Kennedy

What is learned on the athletic field is not forgotten, nor are the lessons of character that are forged there ever lost. Consider the contributions in the field of public life, business, law, medicine, and the military of those who actively participated in athletics.

Robert Kennedy