Let the word go forth from this time and place  to friend and foe alike  that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans - born in this century  tempered by war  disciplined by a hard and bitter peace  proud of our ancient heritage - and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed  and to which we are committed today at home and around the world. Let every nation know  whether it wishes us well or ill  that we shall pay any price  bear any burden  meet any hardship  support any friend  oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1 000 days  nor in the life of this administration  nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin. Now the trumpet summons us again - not as a call to bear arms  though arms we need - not as a call to battle  though embattled we are - but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle  year in and year out  "rejoicing in hope  patient in tribulation"- a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny  poverty  disease and war itself. And so  my fellow Americans  ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country . My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you  but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
John F. Kennedy
liberty, human, rights