To reach a port we must set sail –
Sail, not tie at anchor
Sail, not drift.

I really don't know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it's because in addition to the fact that the sea changes, and the light changes, and ships change, it's because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea - whether it is to sail or to watch it - we are going back from whence we came.

[Remarks at the Dinner for the America's Cup Crews, September 14 1962]

In our seeking for economic and political progress, we all go up - or else we all go down.

When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.

It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.

The test of our progress is not whether we add to the abundance of those who have much. It is whether we provide enough to those who have little.