As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.
John F. Kennedy
The Highest Appreciation
Topic: Gratitude
Today we give our thanks, most of all, for the ideals of honor and faith we inherit from our forefathers—for the decency of purpose, steadfastness of resolve and strength of will, for the courage and the humility, which they possessed and which we must seek every day to emulate. As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often known as JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from January 1961 until his assassination in November 1963. A member of the influential Kennedy family, JFK left an indelible mark on American politics with his charismatic leadership, inspiring speeches, and pioneering efforts in civil rights and space exploration. His life was characterized by personal courage, political ambition, and a relentless commitment to public service. Despite his tragically abbreviated term in office, Kennedy’s legacy continues to shape modern American political discourse and policy.
Born on May 29, 1917, in Brookline, Massachusetts, Kennedy was the second of nine children in a wealthy and politically connected Irish-American family. He studied at Harvard University and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, where his heroic actions following the sinking of his patrol torpedo boat earned him the Navy and Marine Corps Medal. After the war, Kennedy entered politics, serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate for the state of Massachusetts. His charisma and dynamic speeches quickly marked him as a rising star in the Democratic Party, culminating in his narrow but momentous victory over Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election.
As president, Kennedy faced numerous challenges both at home and abroad. Internationally, his administration dealt with the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, and the early stages of the Vietnam War. On the home front, he proposed sweeping civil rights legislation and launched the ambitious Apollo program, which would eventually land a man on the moon. However, his promising second term was cut short when he was assassinated on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. Kennedy's death was a shocking event that stunned the nation and the world, but his enduring influence on American society and politics remains significant. His idealistic vision for America, encapsulated in his call to "ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country," continues to inspire and motivate generations.
John F. Kennedy, Proclamation 3560—Thanksgiving Day, 1963 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/236639
John F. Kennedy
Theme: Gratefulness
About This John F. Kennedy Quotation [Commentary]
John F. Kennedy’s 1963 Thanksgiving proclamation speaks to the values that undergird a meaningful life and a cohesive society. At a time when the United States had grown in population, prosperity, and power, Kennedy redirected attention to what he called “the ideals of honor and faith we inherit from our forefathers.” These included “decency of purpose, steadfastness of resolve and strength of will, courage and humility.” In naming them, Kennedy reminded Americans that gratitude must reach beyond material comfort. It is a call to remember and emulate the inner character of those who came before.
The heart of his message lies in this reflection: “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.” Gratitude, Kennedy made clear, is not fulfilled by ceremony or speech alone. Its true expression comes through action—through lives that reflect the values we name. When our conduct aligns with our ideals, appreciation becomes more than sentiment; it becomes a way of being.
Kennedy concluded with a broader appeal—to “proclaim our gratitude to Providence” and to “resolve to share those blessings and those ideals with our fellow human beings throughout the world.” In doing so, he framed gratitude as both an inward and outward commitment: inward, in remembering and embodying inherited virtues; outward, in extending care and justice to others. His words invite reflection on whether our gratitude finds expression not only in what we say, but in how we live.
John F. Kennedy, Proclamation 3560—Thanksgiving Day, November 05, 1963 [Excerpt].
Much time has passed since the first colonists came to rocky shores and dark forests of an unknown continent, much time since President Washington led a young people into the experience of nationhood, much time since President Lincoln saw the American nation through the ordeal of fraternal war—and in these years our population, our plenty and our power have all grown apace. Today we are a nation of nearly two hundred million souls, stretching from coast to coast, on into the Pacific and north toward the Arctic, a nation enjoying the fruits of an ever-expanding agriculture and industry and achieving standards of living unknown in previous history. We give our humble thanks for this.
Yet, as our power has grown, so has our peril. Today we give our thanks, most of all, for the ideals of honor and faith we inherit from our forefathers—for the decency of purpose, steadfastness of resolve and strength of will, for the courage and the humility, which they possessed and which we must seek every day to emulate. As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.
Let us therefore proclaim our gratitude to Providence for manifold blessings—let us be humbly thankful for inherited ideals—and let us resolve to share those blessings and those ideals with our fellow human beings throughout the world.
—John F. Kennedy, Proclamation 3560—Thanksgiving Day, 1963.
An American Tradition of Gratefulness
John F. Kennedy sought to live the values he expressed in his 1963 Thanksgiving Proclamation, grounding his call to gratitude in the legacy of leaders like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Washington, in his resolve, showed the “strength of will,” while Lincoln, guiding the nation through civil war, embodied “the courage and the humility.” Kennedy saw these virtues—along with “honor and faith”—as a shared inheritance from America’s forebears, and he urged his generation to emulate them. “As we express our gratitude,” he wrote, “we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.” Gratitude, for Kennedy, was not ceremonial but ethical, not confined to national borders but directed outward, as he called on citizens to “proclaim our gratitude to Providence” and “share those blessings and those ideals with our fellow human beings throughout the world.”
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