Fac ut Vivas

For I stand tonight facing west on what was once the last frontier. From the lands that
stretch three thousand miles behind me, the pioneers of old gave up their safety, their
comfort and sometimes their lives to build a new world here in the West. They were not the
captives of their own doubts, the prisoners of their own price tags. Their motto was not
"every man for himself"–but "all for the common cause." They were
determined to make that new world strong and free, to overcome its hazards and its
hardships, to conquer the enemies that threatened from without and within.

Today some would say that those struggles are all over–that all the horizons have been
explored–that all the battles have been won–

But I trust that no one in this vast assemblage will agree with those sentiments. For
the problems are not all solved and the battles are not all won–and we stand today on the
edge of a New Frontier–

–a frontier of unknown opportunities
and perils– a frontier of unfulfilled hopes and threats.

But the New Frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises–it is a set of challenges.
It sums up not what I intend to offer the … people, but what I intend to ask of
them. It appeals to their pride, not to their pocketbook–it holds out the promise of more
sacrifice instead of more security.

But I tell you the New Frontier is here, whether we seek it or not. Beyond that
frontier are the uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of peace and war,
unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and
surplus. It would be easier to shrink back from that frontier, to look to the safe
mediocrity of the past, to be lulled by good intentions and high rhetoric–and those who
prefer that course should not cast their votes for me, regardless of party.

But I believe the times demand new invention, innovation, imagination, decision. I am
asking each of you to be pioneers on that New Frontier. My call is to the young in heart,
regardless of age–to all who respond to the Scriptural call: "Be strong and of a
good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed."

For courage–not complacency–is our need today–leadership–not salesmanship. And the
only valid test of leadership is the ability to lead, and lead vigorously.

There may be those who wish to hear more–more promises to this group or that–more
harsh rhetoric about the men in the Kremlin–more assurances of a golden future, where
taxes are always low and subsidies ever high. But my promises are in the platform you have
adopted–our ends will not be won by rhetoric and we can have faith in the future only if
we have faith in ourselves.

For the harsh facts of the matter are that we stand on this frontier at a turning-point
in history. We must prove all over again whether this nation–or any nation so
conceived–can long endure–whether our society–with its freedom of choice, its breadth
of opportunity, its range of alternatives–can compete with the single-minded advance of
the Communist system.

Can a nation organized and governed such as ours endure? That is the real question.
Have we the nerve and the will? Can we carry through in an age where we will witness not
only new breakthroughs in weapons of destruction–but also a race for mastery of the sky
and the rain, the ocean and the tides, the far side of space and the inside of men’s
minds?

Are we up to the task–are we equal to the challenge? Are we willing to match the
Russian sacrifice of the present for the future–or must we sacrifice our future in order
to enjoy the present?

That is the question of the New Frontier. That is the choice our nation must make–a
choice that lies not merely between two men or two parties, but between the public
interest and private comfort–between national greatness and national decline–between the
fresh air of progress and the stale, dank atmosphere of "normalcy"–between
determined dedication and creeping mediocrity.

All mankind waits upon our decision. A whole world looks to see what we will do. We
cannot fail their trust, we cannot fail to try.

—

The speech was quoted at length during the closing stages of DC Comic’s, Justice: The New Frontier (both film and comic book).

It is a timely message and I’ve reproduced parts of it here, especially the final third, while excising specific references to America and the American way.

Someone once remarked how some people remember JFK mostly for being the poster boy for great speeches by world leaders.