Best Speeches Ever.

[USAlex]

Oration has always been a mainstay of society, and is what gives voice to the concerns of society as a group. It is equal to the force of war in it's ability to change minds and change the course of history. Indeed, it is often behind most wars and most peaces.

What are the bests speeches of your nation? Ones you admire of other nations? What words have inspired you?

Youtube links work for more modern orations...or just tell the title of the speech. Or give a quote. A link to the text.

...

I've got a couple in mind, some well known, others obscure. But I think I will let someone else begin.

[UK]

Winston Churchill. The man might have been a sexist and racist so-and-so, but his speeches and strategies during the War were brilliant. (Plotting the strategy for WWII on a napkin, carrying it through and winning is no mean feat, my friends.)

"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

'We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the Old.'

'I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this Government: 'I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.' We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I will say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.'

'We are waiting for the long-promised invasion. So are the fishes.'

[Indonesia]

Indonesia's Declaration of Independence was the greatest speech I've ever heard from my country...

"Brothers and Sisters All!
I have asked you to be in attendance here in order to witness an event in our history of the utmost importance.

For decades we, the People of Indonesia, have struggled for the freedom of our country—even for hundreds of years!
There have been waves in our actions to win independence which rose, and there have been those that fell, but our spirit still was set in the direction of our ideals.
Also during the Japanese period our efforts to achieve national independence never ceased. In this Japanese period it merely appeared that we leant upon them. But fundamentally, we still continued to build up our own powers, we still believed in our own strengths.
Now has come the moment when truly we take the fate of our actions and the fate of our country into our own hands. Only a nation bold enough to take its fate into its own hands will be able to stand in strength.
Therefore last night we had deliberations with prominent Indonesians from all over Indonesia. That deliberative gathering was unanimously of the opinion that NOW has come the time to declare our independence.
Brothers and Sisters:
Herewith we declare the solidarity of that determination.
Listen to our proclamation:
PROCLAMATION
WE THE PEOPLE OF INDONESIA HEREBY DECLARE THE INDEPENDENCE OF
INDONESIA. MATTERS WHICH CONCERN THE TRANSFER OF POWER AND
OTHER THINGS WILL BE EXECUTED BY CAREFUL MEANS AND IN THE
SHORTEST POSSIBLE TIME.
DJAKARTA, 17 AUGUST 1945
IN THE NAME OF THE PEOPLE OF INDONESIA
SUKARNO—HATTA
So it is, Brothers and Sisters!
We are now already free!
There is not another single tie binding our country and our people!
As from this moment we build our state. A free state, the State of the Republic of Indonesia—evermore and eternally independent. Allah willing, God blesses and makes safe this independence of ours!"

(not Muslim by the way) well yeah this speech was pretty epic.

[USAlex]

UK...Winston Churchill is classic. He has is own chapter in the book on speeches I got. Mostly, he had a way of saying things that didn't just convince the people who were already listening of his ideals; his way of saying things MADE people LISTEN. There is a difference, and a very important one in terms of leading a nation, and an allied world, in a time of war.

Indy....I especially like the line: "Now has come the moment when truly we take the fate of our actions and the fate of our country into our own hands. Only a nation bold enough to take its fate into its own hands will be able to stand in strength".

It's also fun to see the phrase, "We the People" ;D

[USAlex]

Certainly not as eloquent nor as worldly as Churchill, but here is one of my favorite lesser-known US speeches:

The following is by William Gannaway Brownlow (1805-1877), called the "Fighting Parson" from the aggressiveness of his utterances. While others were restrained by the fear of incongruity, or by past habits of self-restraint, he voiced without hesitation his thoughts in a time and place where he was likely to be shot for them. During the contest which led to the secession of Tennessee, or, rather, to its rebellion, Parson Brownlow kept a United States flag flying over his house in Knoxville, and, on threats being made to pull it down, issued the following address, which not only illustrates his style, but is of great historical value as an expression of the feeling which resulted in the Civil War:

.......................

"It is known to this community and to the people of this country that I have had the Stars and Stripes, in the character of a small flag, floating over my dwelling, in East Knoxville, since February. This flag has become very offensive to certain leaders of the Secession party in this town, and to certain would-be leaders, and the more so as it is about the only one of the kind floating in the city.

Squads of troops, from three to twenty, have come over to my house, within the last several days, cursing the flag in front of my house, and threatening to take it down, greatly to the annoyance of my wife and children. No attack has been made upon it, and consequently we have had no difficulty. It is due to the Tennessee troops to say that they have never made any such demonstrations.

Other troops from the Southern States, passing on to Virginia, have been induced to do so, by certain cowardly, sneaking, white-livered scoundrels, residing here, who have not the melt to undertake what they urge strangers to do. One of the Louisiana squads proclaimed in front of my house on Thursday, that they were told to take it down by the citizens of Knoxville....

If these God-forsaken scoundrels and hell-deserving assassins want satisfaction out of me for what I have said about them,--and it has been no little,--they can find me on these streets every day of my life but Sunday. I am at all times prepared to give them the satisfaction. I take back nothing I have ever said against the corrupt and unprincipled villains, but reiterate all, cast it in their dastardly faces, and hurl down their lying throats their own infamous calumnies.

Finally, the destroying of my small flag or of my town property is a small matter. The carrying out of the State upon the mad wave of Secession is also a small matter, compared with the great PRINCIPLE involved. Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I am a Union man, and owe my allegiance to the Stars and Stripes of my country. Nor can I, in any possible contingency, have any respect for the Government of the Confederated States, originating as it did with, and being controlled by, the worst men in the South...."

..................................

Tennessee in the civil war eventually went with the Confederacy, though the East of the state was almost as strongly Union as the West was against the Union. As a result of his continued anti-Confederacy statements, Brownlow was arrested after the war began and, after imprisonment in the Knoxville jail, was sent beyond Confederate lines by order of the Confederate War Department. Returning to the State after it was occupied by the Union forces; he was elected Governor in 1865 and to the United States Senate in 1869.

[USAlex]

And, more well-known speech givers....John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy.

Robert F. Kennedy's "On the Mindless Menace of Violence"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Md-utPrPAE&feature=related

John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Speech:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE0iPY7XGBo

A quote: "Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate"

...

...that speech, and so many other JFK speeches.

[Indonesia]

lol... indonesians that's how they are
but it sounded epic on youtube haha

[Russia]

In April 1917, after many years of exile in Switzerland, Lenin returned to Russia. Thousands of workers gathered in the railway station "Finljandija" to welcome him. He mounted an armoured car and delivered a fiery speech, calling upon the masses to fight for the victory of Communism, ending with the burning words "Long live the socialist revolution!"

[USAlex]

Well, I'd like to see what was actually in the speech if you have some if its text, or a link. (already tried googling for it, to no avail).

[UK]

Henry Temple, Third Viscount of Palmerston

'I therefore fearlessly challenge the verdict which this House, as representing a political, a commercial, a constitutional country, is to give on the question now brought before it; whether the principles on which the foreign policy of Her Majesty's government has been conducted, and the sense of duty which has led us to think ourselves bound to afford protection to our fellow subjects abroad, are proper and fitting guides for those who are charged with the government of England; and whether, as the Roman, in days of old, held himself free from indignity when he could say Civis Romanus sum; so also a British subject, in whatever land he may be, shall feel confident that the watchful eye and the strong arm of England will protect him against injustice and wrong.'

'Therefore I say that it is a narrow policy to suppose that this country or that is to be marked out as the eternal ally or the perpetual enemy of England. We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow.'
((Off topic, but: A Frenchman, thinking to be highly complimentary, said to Palmerston: "If I were not a Frenchman, I should wish to be an Englishman"; to which Palmerston coolly replied: "If I were not an Englishman, I should be wish to be an Englishman."))

[USAlex]

Palmerston....was a good speechmaker, I suppose. He also supported the South in the Civil War. And wrote a letter to Queen Victoria encouraging war with us. So not my most favorite guy from his time period. (the French thing is funny though..XD)

....

Anyway. Duke of Wellington. Was probably the best British military leader and statesman of that time period, I think. (I did a history paper on him in Global Studies, 6th grade). Apparently he was horrible at speeches, though. Like during the passing (or, rather, defeat of, then passing of) the Reform Act of 1832.

[mamauk]

Jul 31, 2010 7:31:57 GMT -5 UK said:

Winston Churchill. The man might have been a sexist and racist so-and-so, but his speeches and strategies during the War were brilliant. (Plotting the strategy for WWII on a napkin, carrying it through and winning is no mean feat, my friends.)

"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

'We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the Old.'

'I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this Government: 'I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.' We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I will say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.'

'We are waiting for the long-promised invasion. So are the fishes.'

You stole mine.
</3

[USAlex]

mamauk: But I am sure there are many others from the UK to choose from!

....


Some others:
LBJ's Speech on Voting Rights. Whether merely politically motivated or not (and I think not), it still contains a good message.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxEauRq1WxQ&feature=related

MLK's Speeches, there are so many, but here’s a quote from text of his last speech, "I've Been to the Mountaintop":

"I’m delighted to see each of you here tonight in spite of a storm warning. You reveal that you are determined to go on anyhow. Something is happening in Memphis, something is happening in our world.

As you know, if I were standing at the beginning of time, with the possibility of general and panoramic view of the whole human history up to now, and the Almighty said to me, “Martin Luther King, which age would you like to live in?”– I would take my mental flight by Egypt through, or rather across the Red Sea, through the wilderness on toward the promised land. And in spite of its magnificence, I wouldn’t stop there.

I would move on by Greece, and take my mind to Mount Olympus. And I would see Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Euripides and Aristophanes assembled around the Parthenon as they discussed the great and eternal issues of reality.
But I wouldn’t stop there.

I would go on, even to the great heyday of the Roman Empire. And I would see developments around there, through various emperors and leaders. But I wouldn’t stop there.

I would even come up to the day of the Renaissance, and get a quick picture of all that the Renaissance did for the cultural and esthetic life of man. But I wouldn’t stop there.

I would even go by the way that the man for whom I’m named had his habitat. And I would watch Martin Luther as he tacked his ninety-five theses on the door at the church in Wittenberg.

But I wouldn’t stop there.

I would come on up even to 1863, and watch a vacillating president by the name of Abraham Lincoln finally come to the conclusion that he had to sign the Emancipation Proclamation. But I wouldn’t stop there.

I would even come up the early thirties, and see a man grappling with the problems of the bankruptcy of his nation. And come with an eloquent cry that we have nothing to fear but fear itself.

But I wouldn’t stop there.

Strangely enough, I would turn to the Almighty, and say, “If you allow me to live just a few years in the second half of the twentieth century, I will be happy.”

Now that’s a strange statement to make, because the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land. Confusion all around. That’s a strange statement.

But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars.

And I see God working in this period of the twentieth century in a way that men, in some strange way, are responding–something is happening in our world. The masses of people are rising up. And wherever they are assembled today, whether they are in Johannesburg, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya: Accra, Ghana; New York City; Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson, Mississippi; or Memphis, Tennessee–the cry is always the same–”We want to be free.”


And another reason that I’m happy to live in this period is that we have been forced to a point where we’re going to have to grapple with the problems that men have been trying to grapple with through history, but the demands didn’t force them to do it. Survival demands that we grapple with them.

Men, for years now, have been talking about war and peace. But now, no longer can they just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; it’s nonviolence or nonexistence.

That is where we are today. And also in the human rights revolution, if something isn’t done, and in a hurry, to bring the colored peoples of the world out of their long years of poverty, their long years of hurt and neglect, the whole world is doomed. Now, I’m just happy that God has allowed me to live in this period, to see what is unfolding. And I’m happy that he’s allowed me to be in Memphis."

[mamauk]

Obama's speeches too.

[USAlex]

Obama's speeches too indeed. My mom says when she first heard one of Obama's speeches--way back when at a democratic national convention--she remarked, "he could be president one day...".

Although...I had meant that perhaps you could choose some different speeches from your country. Even if the other UK already posted Churchill.

Anywho. Obama's speeches. Inagural Address Quote:

"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all."