# We Choose the Moon Because It Is Hard by John F. Kennedy > “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” > **— John F. Kennedy**, *Simple Reminders on Real American Pride* ## Sources and Context - **Direct or authoritative text:** [“We Choose to Go to the Moon,” September 12, 1962 — National Archives](https://jfk.blogs.archives.gov/2017/09/12/we-choose-to-go-to-the-moon-the-55th-anniversary-of-the-rice-university-speech/) - **Series source and editorial context:** [[american/American Ethos - Simple Reminders on Real American Pride|Simple Reminders on Real American Pride]] — “Choosing the Difficult Work.” - **Why it belongs:** The American undertaking is defined by chosen difficulty and organized effort. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Collection:** [[collections/American|American Collection]] - **Series source:** [[american/American Ethos - Simple Reminders on Real American Pride|Simple Reminders on Real American Pride]] - **American route:** [[american/American Ethos - The Next 250|The Next 250]] - **American route:** [[american/American Character - Value 09 - Courage|Courage]] - **Collection:** [[collections/MARS|MARS]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Whole Earth|Whole Earth]] - **Article:** [[articles/We Were Never Going to Make It|We Were Never Going to Make It]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Last Migration Will Not Be Human|The Last Migration Will Not Be Human]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/American Exploration|American Exploration]] - [[wiki/Space Technology|Space Technology]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” — John F. Kennedy, Simple Reminders on Real American Pride https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-john-kennedy-choose-moon-because-hard ```