Today is May 29th, 2017, which many know as Memorial Day. But in addition to being Memorial Day, it would also have been the 35th president, John "Jack" F. Kennedy's, 100th birthday. If he had not been killed on November 22, 1963. But on this day, I hope that people do not dwell on his gruesome death, but rather his very fruitful life. He started out his time in politics in the US House of Representatives for 6 years, then was elected to be a senator for Massachusetts for another 7 and finally after all of his hard work he made it into the White House, if only for a short time. Though during his time in politics he held very strong in his beliefs and showed them through his powerful quotes which still relate to our state as a country now.

1. “Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future."

This quote is basically telling us as a culture that we can't blame our political parties for the state of our country nor can we blame the past. This is very important in today's society because due to the whole political dismay in our country, we shouldn't blame each other, we should take responsibility and just work for a better future.

2. "If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity"

In today's society, it seems as if we are opponents of diversity which is the complete opposite of what JFK would've wanted. He was a major supporter of everyone being treated equally and would have been a major opponent of any sort of travel ban.

3. “Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth"

Jack often supported the growth of people and people being different. Which is a major part of today's society, everyone is always trying to be just like everyone else, and if you try to be just like everyone around you. Then you'll never find growth or actually be free from those chains that bind you.

4. “Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind”

During his life, he was always a constant voice of reason for peace. Through his presidency, one of his main goals was to get rid of the US's militaristic ideology. He always just wanted Americans to realize that they can do so much more with peace than war.

5. “Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly”

This is something that we as a society need to realize. This is the fact that the only way that we can achieve greatness is only if we are prepared to fail. Since without failure, we cannot achieve anything.

6. “Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan”

In today's society, we only acknowledge our wins and never consider our losses. Which is something that needs to change because as Jack talked about through his life, a person can not have victories without first going through losses.

7. “The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.”

This quote is very important today because, with the major discrimination of Muslims and people of color in general in society, we have to remember this. If even one person has their rights threatened, then that affects all of us because we are all one country.

8. “The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.”

This is basically telling us as a people that the educated need to help the uneducated. This is very prominent in today's society because people often don't do research on who they are voting for, which could lead to chaos and they wouldn't even know it. This is why education of the masses is crucial in this age.

9. “Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.”

This line is honestly one of the best quotes by JFK. It shows that he could be kind of petty like the rest of us. He knew holding grudges will never get you anywhere in life but that they are still your enemy and that you should remember what they did so that it doesn't happen again.

10. “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”

In society today, many think that peaceful protests are useless and that the people who participate in these are just nuances. This has been very blatantly shown in the Black Lives Matter protests, in which the bases is to evoke change through being peaceful. But often times their peacefulness has been attacked and their only way is to be violent and this is clearly shown through this quote.

11. “The supreme reality of our time is the vulnerability of this planet.”

This quote is crucial in today's society because this planet is so vulnerable to everything we do. We need to realize this and take action because Kennedy was always a huge supporter of science and it's advancement. He would've seen the affects of global warming and would have taken a stand which is what we need to do. Our planet is in dire need of our help and we need to take action.

12. "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”

This line is something that we all must take to heart. Words are one thing and they can mean a lot, but words do not compare to action. If you actually mean something that you say, you will live by those words and include them into your life.

13. “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”

What this quote tells us is that leadership and learning come basically hand-in-hand. In leadership, if a person doesn't learn from their experiences than they won't be able to lead. While on the other hand through learning a person can learn how to gain leadership.

14. “The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth.”

This tells us that the reason that we need education is that it helps to spread the truth. Uneducated people do possess less knowledge than those that are educated, which is common knowledge. But what people often don't realize is that education does help to spread the truth throughout the masses.

15. “Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.”

This is a very significant thought in all of our lives. It is basically telling us that we can put all the time and energy in the world into something but without purpose and direction, it is all just wasted and essentially meaningless.