It is difficult not to be surprised by the candour of “painfully and clumsily”. These words express our fumbling, imperfect attempts to create a meaningful life, as well as our vulnerability – the acknowledgement of which is not a weakness but a source of strength. The rest of Kennedy’s speech was characterised by this acute sensitivity:

“But we can perhaps remember, if only for a time, that those who live with us are our brothers; that they share with us the same short movement of life; that they seek, as we do, nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and happiness, winning what satisfaction and fulfillment they can.

Surely this bond of common faith, this bond of common goal, can begin to teach us something. Surely we can learn, at least, to look at those around us as fellow men and surely we can begin to work a little harder to bind up the wounds among us and to become in our hearts brothers and countrymen once again.”

‘Difficult love’

Appeals to universal empathy are usually presented without complexity, but Kennedy offered a caveat: “if only for a time”. There is a disarming honesty to this suggestion: we ought to love our fellow citizens perpetually, but such an emotional commitment is a significant undertaking. It is not easy to honour our common bond every day (“we can perhaps remember”), or not to fall for the fearful depictions of the ‘other’, whom we are encouraged to distrust.