“We choose the Moon not because It is easy, but because It is hard”
⊙ 연설의 배경
미국은 1969년 7월20일 오후 4시17분 (미국 동부 서머타임) 아폴로 11호의 우주인 닐 암스트롱과 에드윈 올드린 2세를 태운 달 착륙선을 달의 평원에 착륙시켰다.
이에 앞서 1958년 소련이 스푸트니크 1호를 발사하고，1961년 소련의 유리 가가린이 108분 동안 지구를 일주하는 우주비행에 성공하자，존 F.케네디 대통령은 소련과의 경주를 의식，1960년대가 끝나기 전에 미국이 인간을 달에 착륙시키고 다시 무사히 귀환하게 하겠다고 선언했다.
이 연설문은 1962년 미국 텍사스 라이스대에서 케네디 대통령이 미국이 달에 가야 하는 이유를 명쾌하게 설명했다.
⊙ 존 F 케네디 (John F Kennedy : 1917~1963년) 민주당 출신의 미국 35대 대통령.
매사추세츠주에서 아일랜드계 대부호의 차남으로 태어나 하버드 대학에서 정치학을 공부했으며，학위논문 '영국은 왜 잠자고 있었나 (Why England Slept)'(1940년)는 베스트셀러가 되기도 했다.
일본군이 진주만을 기습한 뒤 해군에 자원 입대해 전쟁영웅이 됐다.
1953년에 타임 헤럴드의 지적인 사진기자 '재클린 부비에'와 결혼했으며，1957년에 '용기있는 사람들 (Profiles in Courage)'이라는 저서로 퓰리처상을 탔다.
1958년 상원의원으로 재선되었으며，1960년 대통령선거에서 '뉴 프런티어(New Frontier)'를 슬로건으로 내걸고 민주당 후보로 출마，공화당 후보였던 닉슨을 누르고 미국 35대 대통령이 됐다.
1963년 11월 암살됐다.
⊙ 원문 읽기
I appreciate your president having made me an honorary visiting professor，and I will assure you that my first lecture will be very brief.
I am delighted to be here and I'm particularly delighted to be here on this occasion.
We meet at a college noted for knowledge，in a city noted for progress，in a state noted for strength，and we stand in need of all three，for we meet in an hour of change and challenge，in a decade of hope and fear，in an age of both knowledge and ignorance.
The greater our knowledge increases，the greater our ignorance unfolds.
Despite the striking fact that most of the scientists that the world has ever known are alive and working today，despite the fact that this Nation's own scientific manpower is doubling every 12 years in a rate of growth more than three times that of our population as a whole，despite that，the vast ①stretches of the unknown and the unanswered and the unfinished still far ②outstrip our collective comprehension.
No man can fully grasp how far and how fast we have come，but condense，if you will，the 50,000 years of man's recorded history in a time span of but a half－century.
Stated in these terms，we know very little about the first 40 years，except at the end of them advanced man had learned to use the skins of animals to cover them.
Then about 10 years ago，under this standard，man emerged from his caves to construct other kinds of shelter.
Only five years ago man learned to write and use a cart with wheels.
Christianity began less than two years ago.
The printing press came this year，and then less than two months ago，during this whole 50－year span of human history，the steam engine provided a new source of power.
Newton explored the meaning of gravity.
Last month electric lights and telephones and automobiles and airplanes became available.
Only last week did we develop penicillin and television and nuclear power，and now if America's new spacecraft succeeds in reaching Venus，we will have literally reached the stars before midnight tonight.
This is a breathtaking pace，and such a pace cannot help but create new ills as it dispels old，new ignorance，new problems，new dangers.
Surely the opening ③vistas of space promise high costs and hardships，as well as high reward.
So it is not surprising that some would have us stay where we are a little longer to rest，to wait.
But this city of Houston，this state of Texas，this country of the United States was not built by those who waited and rested and wished to look behind them.
This country was conquered by those who moved forward－－and so will space.
William Bradford，speaking in 1630 of the founding of the Plymouth Bay Colony，said that all great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties，and both must be enterprised and overcome with answerable courage.
If this capsule history of our progress teaches us anything，it is that man，in his quest for knowledge and progress，is determined and cannot be deterred.
The exploration of space will go ahead，whether we join in it or not，and it is one of the great adventures of all time，and no nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space.
Those who came before us made certain that this country rode the first waves of the industrial revolution，the first waves of modern invention，and the first wave of nuclear power，and this generation does not intend to founder in the backwash of the coming age of space.
We mean to be a part of it－－we mean to lead it.
For the eyes of the world now look into space，to the moon and to the planets beyond，and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest，but by a banner of freedom and peace.
We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction，but with instruments of knowledge and understanding.
Yet the vows of this Nation can only be fulfilled if we in this Nation are first，and，therefore，we intend to be first.
In short，our leadership in science and industry，our hopes for peace and security，our obligations to ourselves as well as others，all require us to make this effort，to solve these mysteries，to solve them for the good of all men，and to become the world's leading space－faring nation.
We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained，and new rights to be won，and they must be won and used for the progress of all people.
For space science，like nuclear science and all technology，has no conscience of its own.
Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man，and only if the United States occupies a position of pre－eminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new terrifying theater of war.
I do not say that we should or will go unprotected against the hostile misuse of space any more than we go unprotected against the hostile use of land or sea，but I do say that space can be explored and mastered without feeding the fires of war，without repeating the mistakes that man has made in extending his writ around this globe of ours.
There is no ④strife，no prejudice，no national conflict in outer space as yet.
Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind，and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation many never come again.
But why，some say，the moon？
Why choose this as our goal？
And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain？
Why，35 years ago，fly the Atlantic？
Why does Rice play Texas？
We choose to go to the moon.
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，because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills，because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept，one we are unwilling to postpone，and one which we intend to win，and the others，too.
▶ Words & Idiom
① stretches : 일련의
② outstrip : 앞지르다, 능가하다
③ vista : 전망, 예상
④ strife : 투쟁, 다툼
