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Greatness

"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." -- John F. Kennedy

What a great sentiment; what a great president! When we think of the words, we think of him. When we think of him, we think of the words, the perfect union of a man and his ideal!

Many would say that his eloquence was the result of superb creativity and an ability to transform the very sentiment he felt about himself, his country and his duty into words. Others would say, his eloquence was not in the words at all, but in his heart, thus his greatness stemmed not at all from his creative abilities.

"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country"…

What if someone else had uttered these words first? Would we have then attributed this quote to that individual instead? Was it really the words, or was it something else? Is greatness about new ideas, about creativity, about innovation, or having thought up a new way to say something noble? Or is greatness something else?

"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country"…

A powerful and unique sentiment about America and her proud and noble heritage? Too bad Kennedy sort of borrowed it from Kahlil Gibran. Here's what Gibran wrote somewhere around the turn of the century in a short essay entitled, "The new Frontier".

"Are you a politician, asking what your country can do for you, or a zealous one, asking what you can do for your country".

For your introspection, I submit that greatness is about service. It is really about having the heart, the spirit, and the passion to serve mankind. Indeed, the more you serve, the greater you are. The key to greatness is service! Be great! "Ask not!" Serve!

Tom Desrosier
Copyright 2000, T. G. Desrosier, all rights reserved.