Truth is a tyrant-the only tyrant to whom we can give our allegiance. The service of truth is a matter of heroism.
Interpretation
Truth demands loyalty and courage, making it a worthy cause for one's allegiance.
In this quote, John F. Kennedy emphasizes the paramount importance of truth, suggesting that it is the ultimate authority to which we should owe our fidelity. He frames the pursuit and service of truth as a noble and heroic endeavor, highlighting the courage required to uphold it in the face of challenges and potentials for tyranny from other influences.
In practice
In a speech about integrity, one might say, 'As John F. Kennedy noted, truth demands our allegiance, and this discourse encourages us to serve it with heroism.'
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.
For you all think God is one who rewards good and punishes evil, but I say to you that God is one who loves you and has compassion for everyone. You just have to pray to Him and believe in Him. He will always be your guiding light.
Yet it looks as if the thing we use to solve our problems with is the source of our problems. It's like going to the doctor and having him make you ill. In fact, in 20% of medical cases we do apparently have that going on. But in the case of thought, its far over 20%.
In Brazil, a poor man goes to jail when he steals. When a rich man steals, he becomes a minister.
But we had with us, to keep and to care for, more than five hundred bruised bodies of men- men made in the image of God, marred by the hand of man and must we say in the name of God? And where is the reckoning for such things? And who is answerable? One might almost shrink from the sound of his own voice, which had launched into the palpitating air words of order- do we call it? - fraught with such ruin. Was it God's command we heard or His forgiveness we must forever implore?
I believe that nothing comes of nothing, even in Shakespeare. I wanted to know where he got the matter he was working with and what he did with that matter.
In some departments of our daily life, in which we imagine ourselves free agents, we are ruled by dictators exercising great power.
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