JFK's Famous Speech- Stolen?

[Alfierephotography]

guys it was actually written by Kennedy high-school principle

[2001perseus]

True words are true words. They were spoken to be repeated not buried, by men of conscience and courage. I don't care if he adapted it from Donald Duck. So fucking what!!!

[rgs13]

Well, JFK "borrowed" it from Jibran Khalil Jibran's book "The New Frontier", in which he wrote: “Are you a politician asking what your country can do for you or a zealous one asking what you can do for your country?”

So I guess if you wanna accuse someone of stealing, you might wanna start by JFK!

[romero59621]

JFK stole it from Khalil Gibran.

[csmth96]

This is not stolen. This is reuse and reference. Why not if the speech is great? Words spoken by JFK is great and spoken by Sarkozy is foul? That is plainly discrimination.

[fsufan850]

Nobody should have an intellectual dictatorship over a certain set of values or principles. I rejoice that the leader of France, a country that help founded our independence, also shares the same sentiment that mr. kennedy had in this speech.

[Albanopolis]

nothing wrong about it.

[bluevaines]

To bad this does not apply with America today.

[tarnrosa]

JFK made this speech famous and therefore there is nothing wrong about it.

[amaljaalza]

Sarkozy is the greatest criminnal of all time, like the rest of the vest eorope, and the us. Belive it or not, the devil could not do it much better.

So yes a great "president".........!

[classicpolo]

since when was it a crime to recite a quote said by somebody else.

[titi55100]

It is not "stolen" it does refer to the speech of JFK....no crime cometed...Just a very intelligent man making a speech that's it ....

[SigalaSigala]

'Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.'

- John F. Kennedy (By the way, this is an exact quote from a speech given by Army Gen'l. Omar Bradley in 1953, just a few years prior to JFK using it in his inaugural speech. JFK or his speech writers recognized a great quote, but none credited Bradley for one of the greatest patriotic quotes of all time - plagiarism, anyone?)

[xXArawanXx]

That's not stealing, politicans quote historical figures all the time. Obama took a quote from a current politican, Biden an entire speech from an British one. That's plagarism. Well known quotes don't really need to be cited. It's like everytime a politician said "life liberty and the pursuit" they'd have to cite Jefferson...

[ilikeice]

who care if he stole it from jfk prob said it so ppl would hopefully repeat it..duhhh

[WeHopeItsFunny]

if he is gonna copy his speech i would prefer if he went all the way and was as great a man as jfk was

[oprecha]

stolen!!!!!!!!!!

[worldtraveler101]

the french hate us americans but they like being criminals and thives

[WeHopeItsFunny]

dude you idiot, with out the frenchs help we could not have won the revolutionary war. another thing, who do you think built the statue of liberty? china? it was the french douchebag

[bhennagir]

you're probably wrong about the americans not winning the revolution without french aid, and who gives a crap that they built the statue of liberty?

[HKK91]

Dude, the Americans needed the French to make a fast win otherwise, the war would of probably been longer and the statue of liberty was an important gift to us by the French because it symbolized a lot of things such as freedom and liberty.

[matsaballmonday]

do you know how stupid you sound? really, think about it, take five seconds

[agentmabus333]

Do you know how stupid YOU sound because you haven't done your history? The French and the Americans at that time were closely knit together because of their common goals: freedom. Nothing else mattered (unlike today, where apparently politics is everything.) By the way, Ben Franklin was the foreign ambassador to France, and the Marquis De Lafayette was the foreign ambassador to America from France. :P

[matsaballmonday]

i was saying bhennagir was stupid... so.... i think im on the same side as you on this one...

[dmassah]

sad cunts

[Khonia]

Joubran Khalil Joubran

[RWT683]

I think at the time people probably knew he wasn't the first to say it, it was an age old phrase. Only since the advent of the Kennedy-cult (and I do think he was great) have people been under the mistaken impression that he came up with it.

[seofutbol]

If one were to go way back, one would see Cicero actually quoted it.

[wally316]

Uh the vid shows the non english guy year of 2007. LOL so he stole it from JFK.

[feejo]

ask not what you can do for your country, but what your country can to do you.

[crazziejoe]

while i love jfk, he himself stole this famous line. it was said to him while he was in boarding school at a young age. it was told to him from an instructor who went by the name, "brother john"

[dave98503]

sometimes the job doesn't even last past a day...the company keeps you only as long as they need you.

[thinkgood]

"Stolen," is a bit harsh. He was quoting Kennedy. Nothing wrong with that.

[webcon19]

its a reasonable statement for any leader to make im sure the french people know the speech and understand the way he is saying it.

[riosalicia]

I agree maybe at that time it would have been better to work and do what you can for your country but nowadays the economy is so bad its time for the government to take charge and turn things around for its citizens. Most of whom have already given and done so much either by taxes or serving some other way. Some action needs to be done and quickly!!

You have every right to feel the way you do and i personally agree with you.

[dave98503]

thanks, every time I get some temporary job, which is basically all that's out there at the moment in los angeles, i make barely 350-400 bucks a week...the government takes about 75-90 bucks in taxes on each check. Without the job turning permanent, there is no way I could afford health insurance, food, gas, and all the other expenses, when I know the job might disappear in the future because it's either a short or long term assignment. Sometimes I might get hired, but I'm still waiting. :(

[jd24717]

Hey, smart people.

The video's saying Sarkozy stole it from Kennedy, not the other way around.

[JohnKennedyIII]

Durdle22:

#1 The speech in it's entirety was not "stolen" from anyone.

#2 Giran's phrase was not very much like JFK's. Gibran's questionable phrase was first published in English in 1975. The book containing the phrase was called "A Third Treasury Of Kahil Gibran".

#3 After author Thurston Clarke's book came out, it was widely accepted that

JFK wrote the entire speech himself. JFK was probably familiar with speeches of the past and then used bits of these in his speeches in paraphrase form

[JohnKennedyIII]

JFK may have gotten his ideas for the "ask not" phrase from the Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. speech, which was given on May 30th, 1884.

O.W.H. was a supreme court justice.

Or, JFK may have been influenced by republican president Warren G. Harding's speech, which was given on June 7th, 1916.

[cope1865]

I concur

[durdle22]

Actually, JFK himself "stole" it from a Lebanese Poet called Gibran...so learn the facts. To be honest, you are missing the point of the words. It's all about what the words mean and how they inspire a person rather than who says them ;)

[shanepkennedy]

its not stealing. it spreading the greatest idea in history. i applaud anyone who would repeat the words of john f kennedy

[PsychoticIntrusions]

@shanepkennedy WInston CHurchill said it in 1940, before some english dude said it in 1916, before that some roman dude said it a coupel thousand years ago. Not the words of JFK.

[goldyn12345]

was jfk a great president?

[sirhikesalot692]

the best

[guitarguy93]

how old are you again?

[goldyn12345]

what was so great about him?he had links to the mafia,he was a serial adulterer.lol,sounds like a great president.

[MartialArtistWannabe]

Agreed. Well, to be fair, it was his FATHER who had all the power and money and ties to criminals. Kennedy was just a rich kid whose father bought him the presidency. He was a terrible president, and couldn't control his sexual urges. I just don't understand why he's considered anywhere near the best president. Firstly, he did a lot of damage to the country that LBJ took the blame for, and secondly, he barely served. How can you judge his presidency based on his short term??

[lsutigersfan9]

JFK was not only one of the greatest president's we have ever had, but one of the greatest men, the things he did for our country are great and incomprehensible, his father had power yes, he had an affair, but so did FDR and he was another great president, and how the hell can u say JFK screwed LBJ, it is thoguht that LBJ may have gotten JFK killed and he was an awful president, and in jfk's short term he launched the moon program which saved nasa, started the peace corp, avoided WW3, JFK RIP

[ignatei]

Marilyn Monroe Did Not Commit Suicide! There is a big difference between suicide and assassination. James Files confessed that her death was in fact a hit ordered by the Kennedys.

This rich kid's father made Giancana a secret promise...

[abush57]

ho shoot your self in the nuts..JFK can be argued as the best president ever.....to be exact he was the 35th president

[goldyn12345]

alright then,why was he the best president ever?

[lsutigersfan9]

the peace corps, landing a man on the moon, HAVE YOU HEARD OF THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS WE WERE INCHES AWAY FROM ALL OUT NUCLEAR WAR AND THANKS TO HIM IT WAS AVERTED, thanks to the near disaster khruschev sought to ease tensions which began the end of the cold war, his only blemishes were the bay of pigs which was planned by truman and a mistress which FDR another great president had, it isn't right but it doesn't make him a lesser president, if u think that he was a bad president reply show me y

[MartialArtistWannabe]

The cuban missle crisis was a result of JFK's weak leadership. Khruschev played the hell out of JFK...and JFK turned around and lied about what actually happened to the US population. What happened in Vietnam was also a result of his actions.

And it wasn't just an affair, which I have no problem with. He was a self-proclaimed sex addict.

Besides the whole moon thing, what did JFK really do? Absolutely nothing. If he lived through his term, he would've went down as a shitty president.

[wally316]

What did he really do. Lets see Nuclear test ban treaty. He proposed the civil rights act for all humans white, black, hispanic to be treated equally same buses same water fountains. He even imposed it with police at schools when Principals did not want to follow it. He put lots of money into the space program which eventually lead to the landing on the moon. The alliance for progress. The guy represented change and for the better for all humans.

[goldyn12345]

i dont think he was bad,he just had that shady image.links to the mob,marilyn monroe,sneaking women into the whitehouse while his wife was away.if he was elected now he wouldnt last 5 minutes,look how crazy everyone went about the whole lewinsky thing with clinton. i know what you're saying though,just because he liked the ladies it didnt make him a worse president.

[abush57]

Yo shoot your self in the nuts..JFK can be argued as the best president ever.....to be exact he was the 35th president

[crazziejoe]

jfk got this from the boarding school he went to as a child. it was from a teacher called, brother john.

[Winterlord2]

None of the phrases used in Kennedy's speeches are original, he selected them from leaders who came before him.

There is nothing wrong with this, in fact, he was the only person in this century to revive the ideals that the speeches he took from seeked to create.

American's should be pleased that another World leader has used the same line that John F Kennedy used, and that he hopefully seeks to again revive the values of JFK

[truthmongeror]

Well JFK has a major street named after him in Paris, so I doubt Sarkozy thought he could get away with making the line his own.

[Stevenbetz]

Shouldn't we be flattered that he would borrow a line from one of our most beloved Presidents?

[AaronMicael]

Hey why don't we go back even further, JFK stole this from the poet Kahlil Gibran, HE wrote these words almost a century ago.

[berserkerk2dyv]

good one!

Aaron Micael - inform these shitheads

[cope1865]

and he stole it too: (Gibran was born 1883)

Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, in a Memorial Day address in 1884 stated: "It is now the moment when by common consent we pause to become conscious of our national life and to rejoice in it, to recall what our country has done for each of us, and to ask ourselves what we can do for our country in return."