“If we are to go only half way, or reduce our sights in the face of difficulty, in my judgment it would be better not to go at all.”

— John F. Kennedy

1961, Speech to Special Joint Session of Congress
Context: Let it be clear — and this is a judgment which the Members of the Congress must finally make — let it be clear that I am asking the Congress and the country to accept a firm commitment to a new course of action — a course which will last for many years and carry very heavy costs: 531 million dollars in fiscal '62 — an estimated seven to nine billion dollars additional over the next five years. If we are to go only half way, or reduce our sights in the face of difficulty, in my judgment it would be better not to go at all.

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John F. Kennedy 469

35th president of the United States of America 1917–1963

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“If we are to go only half way, or reduce our sights in the face of difficulty, in my judgment it would be better not to go at all.”

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