by Jim Huckabee

Created on: August 27, 2008

Best quotes from the Great Leaders

There have been many great leaders in history and each spoke many memorable words. The first president of the United State of America, George Washington once said: "Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder". In these words is a variable feast of food for thought.

Abraham Lincoln the president who owes his beard and recognition to a child was an eloquent man who spoke freely and honestly. The freest words which he spoke are also very good advise and quoted often by many speakers. I take them to heart so I will leave them here for you. "And in the end it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."

But what about a president who many of you, regardless of which country you live in, will remember, John Fitzgerald Kennedy? During the Kennedy administration there were many references of a Arthurian nature. Kennedy's administration was compared to Camelot and King Arthur's round table which many have snickered over. I don't know if King Arthur will approve of history when he awakens from his sleep on the Isle of Apples, but I believe he will approve of these words from John Kennedy.

"The best road to progress is freedom's road."

Maybe there is an Arthurian comparison for good reasons. Maybe like Arthur, John Kennedy is merely asleep awaiting America to need him to free her from herself. Unlike Kennedy, King Arthur is a fictitious character. But his legacy like John Kennedy's is real. This legacy is one of freedom.

President Kennedy spoke often on the subject of freedom. The cost of freedom is a great one which many individuals have thankfully not tasted. Nonetheless, it has been paid and out of this price a great society has sprung forth. For this society to flourish it must feed the soul. Culture is at the root of any society on which John Kennedy had this to say.

"If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist
free to follow his vision wherever it takes him."

The day John F. Kennedy was assassinated, by a man who reportedly worked for freedoms antagonist, I was in the fourth grade. I will never forget watching him on the nightly news sitting in his rocking chair. I will also never forget these words of J.F.K.

"My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask
what you can do for your country."

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