by John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917 - 1963)
The courage of life is often a less dramatic spectacle
Language: English
The courage of life is often a less dramatic spectacle than the courage of a final moment. But it is no less a magnificent mixture of triumph and tragedy. A man does what he must in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures and that is the basis of all human morality. We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that great revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place to friend and foe alike that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.
This is a prose text. The line breaks above are arbitrary.
Authorship:
- by John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917 - 1963) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by David Werner Amram (b. 1930), "The courage of life is often a less dramatic spectacle", published 1974, first performed 1969 [ bass, woodwind quintet, string quintet ], from Three Songs for America, no. 1, New York, Edition Peters [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2018-09-08
Line count: 14
Word count: 151