John F. Kennedy Explains
Why Artists & Poets Are Indispensable to American Democracy (October 26th,
1963) Transcript below.
President John F. Kennedy: Remarks at Amherst College, October 26, 1963 - Transcript
Our national strength matters, but
the spirit which informs and controls our strength matters just as much. This
was the special significance of Robert Frost. He brought an unsparing instinct
for reality to bear on the platitudes and pieties of society. His sense of the
human tragedy fortified him against self-deception and easy consolation.
"I have been" he wrote, "one acquainted with the night."
And because he knew the midnight as well as the high noon, because he
understood the ordeal as well as the triumph of the human spirit, he gave his
age strength with which to overcome despair. At bottom, he held a deep faith in
the spirit of man, and it is hardly an accident that Robert Frost coupled
poetry and power, for he saw poetry as the means of saving power from itself.
When power leads men towards arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations.
When power narrows the areas of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the
richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.
For art establishes the basic human truth which must serve as the touchstone of
our judgment.
The artist, however faithful to his
personal vision of reality, becomes the last champion of the individual mind
and sensibility against an intrusive society and an officious state. The great
artist is thus a solitary figure. He has, as Frost said, a lover's quarrel with
the world. In pursuing his perceptions of reality, he must often sail against
the currents of his time. This is not a popular role. If Robert Frost was much
honored in his lifetime, it was because a good many preferred to ignore his
darker truths. Yet in retrospect, we see how the artist's fidelity has
strengthened the fibre of our national life.
If sometimes our great artists have
been the most critical of our society, it is because their sensitivity and
their concern for justice, which must motivate any true artist, makes him aware
that our Nation falls short of its highest potential. I see little of more
importance to the future of our country and our civilization than full
recognition of the place of the artist.
If art is to nourish the roots of
our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it
takes him. We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a
form of truth. And as Mr. MacLeish once remarked of poets, there is nothing
worse for our trade than to be in style. In free society art is not a weapon
and it does not belong to the spheres of polemic and ideology. Artists are not
engineers of the soul. It may be different elsewhere. But democratic
society--in it, the highest duty of the writer, the composer, the artist is to
remain true to himself and to let the chips fall where they may. In serving his
vision of the truth, the artist best serves his nation. And the nation which
disdains the mission of art invites the fate of Robert Frost's hired man, the
fate of having "nothing to look backward to with pride, and nothing to
look forward to with hope."
I look forward to a great future for
America, a future in which our country will match its military strength with
our moral restraint, its wealth with our wisdom, its power with our purpose. I
look forward to an America which will not be afraid of grace and beauty, which
will protect the beauty of our natural environment, which will preserve the
great old American houses and squares and parks of our national past, and which
will build handsome and balanced cities for our future.
I look forward to an America which
will reward achievement in the arts as we reward achievement in business or
statecraft. I look forward to an America which will steadily raise the
standards of artistic accomplishment and which will steadily enlarge cultural
opportunities for all of our citizens. And I look forward to an America which
commands respect throughout the world not only for its strength but for its
civilization as well. And I look forward to a world which will be safe not only
for democracy and diversity but also for personal distinction.
Robert Frost was often skeptical
about projects for human improvement, yet I do not think he would disdain this
hope. As he wrote during the uncertain days of the Second War:
Take human nature altogether since
time began . . .
And it must be a little more in favor of man,
Say a fraction of one percent at the very least . . .
Our hold on this planet wouldn't have so increased.
And it must be a little more in favor of man,
Say a fraction of one percent at the very least . . .
Our hold on this planet wouldn't have so increased.
Because of Mr. Frost's life and
work, because of the life and work of this college, our hold on this planet has
increased.
Text and recording courtesy of the
John F. Kennedy Library and the U.S. National Archives.
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