acting alone, acting in groups, acting in the United Nations, for plague and pestilence, and plunder and pollution, the hazards of nature, and the hunger of children are the foes of every nation. The earth, the sea, and the air are the concern of every nation. And science, technology, and education can be the ally of every nation. Never before has man had such capacity to control his own environment, to end thirst and hunger, to conquer poverty and disease, to banish illiteracy and massive human misery. We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world — or to make it the last.
1963, UN speech
“The never-ending task of self improvement.”
“The most important task in my term is to improve the economy.”
During his campaign for re-election, April 12, 2003
Pet Phrases, 2003
1962, Second State of the Union Address
1940s, Third inaugural address (1941)
As quoted in " 4 Takeaways from Xi Jinping’s Speech Defending Communist Party Control https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/18/world/asia/xi-china-speech-takeaways.html" The New York Times
2010s
Source: Imperium: The Philosophy of History and Politics (1948), Chapter titled: The Imperative of Our Age, p. 111 Noontide Press edition.
“Rightly to aim in all these cases is the wise man's task.”
Book I, ch. 27.
Discourses
Context: Appearances to the mind are of four kinds. Things either are what they appear to be; or they neither are, nor appear to be; or they are, and do not appear to be; or they are not, and yet appear to be. Rightly to aim in all these cases is the wise man's task.
2013, Fifth State of the Union Address (February 2013)
Context: The American people don’t expect government to solve every problem. They don’t expect those of us in this chamber to agree on every issue. But they do expect us to put the nation’s interests before party. They do expect us to forge reasonable compromise where we can. For they know that America moves forward only when we do so together, and that the responsibility of improving this union remains the task of us all.
Source: On the Pragmatics of Communication, 1998, p. 21
