Quotes by Robert Francis Kennedy

“There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?”

“It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.”

“But suppose God is black? What if we go to Heaven and we, all our lives, have treated the Negro as an inferior, and God is there, and we look up and He is not white? What then is our response?”

“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.”

“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.”

“I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?”

“One-fifth of the people are against everything all the time.”

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”

“Each time a man stands for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

“Progress is a nice word. But change is its motivator. And change has its enemies.”

“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.”

“The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of bold projects and new ideas. Rather, it will belong to those who can blend passion, reason a”

“I believe that, as long as there is plenty, poverty is evil.”

“All of us might wish at times that we lived in a more tranquil world, but we dont. And if our times are difficult and perplexing, so are they challenging and filled with opportunity.”

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

“Moral courage is a more rare commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence.”

“I thought theyd get one of us, but Jack, after all hes been through, never worried about it I thought it would be me.”

“Ultimately, Americas answer to the intolerant man is diversity, the very diversity which our heritage of religious freedom has inspired.”

“It will help erase the idea that politics is a second-rate profession and a dirty business.”

“Now I can go back to being ruthless again.”