History is a relentless master. It has no present, only the past rushing into the future. To try to hold fast is to be swept aside.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the inevitability of time and the futility of trying to resist its flow.
In this quote, John F. Kennedy suggests that history is an unstoppable force, moving forward without regard for the present. The past continuously shapes the future, and any attempts to cling to past moments will ultimately lead to being left behind. It emphasizes the importance of accepting change and adapting rather than resisting it.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of adapting to change in a business environment.
The great battleground for the defense and expansion of freedom today is the whole southern half of the globe... the lands of the rising peoples. Their revolution is the greatest in human history. They seek an end to injustice, tyranny and exploitation. More than an end, they seek a beginning.
I had always enjoyed the title of Commander-in-Chief until I was informed ... that the only forces that cannot be transferred from Washington without my express permission are the members of the Marine Corps Band. Those are the only forces I have. I want it announced that we propose to hold the White House against all odds at least for some time to come.
I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children - not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women - not merely peace in our time but peace for all time.
I just received the following wire from my generous Daddy; Dear Jack, Don't buy a single vote more than is necessary. I'll be damned if I'm going to pay for a landslide.
Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.
Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.
We must wait until the evening to see how splendid the day had been.
Racism in Brazil is well hidden, subtle, and unspoken, underestimated by the media. It is nevertheless extremely violent.
Skepticism relieved two terrible diseases that afflicted mankind: anxiety and dogmatism.
An organizer working in and for an open society is in an ideological dilemma to begin with, he does not have a fixed truth - truth to him is relative and changing; everything to him is relative and changing.... To the extent that he is free from the shackles of dogma, he can respond to the realities of the widely different situations.
The arc of the moral universe may bend towards justice, but it doesn't bend on its own.
One cannot in the nature of things expect a little tree that has been turned into a club to put forth leaves.
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