Ask Not What Your Country Can Do

¹Let 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.

²And 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.

³Let 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, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

⁴In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger.

⁵I do not shrink from this responsibility — I welcome it.

⁶I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation.

⁷The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it — and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

⁸And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.

⁹My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

¹⁰Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you.