Socrates, “Apology”
399 B.C.; Athens
Socrates is perhaps the greatest teacher in the history of the Western world. He wandered around Athens engaging in dialogues with his fellow citizens that focused on discovering the truth of all things. He taught his pupils that the “unexamined life is not worth living.”
The Athenians saw Socrates as a threat, especially to the Athenian youth. Socrates acquired quite a following among the young men of Athens. He taught these impressionable minds to question everything, even Athenian authority. Eventually, Socrates was arrested and put on trial for corrupting the youth, not believing the gods, and creating new deities.
The “Apology” is Socrates’ defense to these charges. Instead of crying and pleading for mercy, Socrates accepts his charges and attempts to persuade the jury with reason. He argued that it was his calling from the gods to seek knowledge and that it was through his questions he uncovered truth. To not fulfill his calling would be blasphemy. In the end, Socrates lost and was sentenced to death by hemlock. Socrates accepted this fate willingly and without grudge against his condemners, thus dying as a martyr for free thinking.
Worthy Excerpt:
Some one will say: Yes, Socrates, but cannot you hold your tongue, and then you may go into a foreign city, and no one will interfere with you? Now I have great difficulty in making you understand my answer to this. For if I tell you that to do as you say would be a disobedience to the God, and therefore that I cannot hold my tongue, you will not believe that I am serious; and if I say again that daily to discourse about virtue, and of those other things about which you hear me examining myself and others, is the greatest good of man, and that the unexamined life is not worth living, you are still less likely to believe me.
George Washington, “Resignation Speech”
December 23, 1784; Annapolis, Maryland
As the Revolutionary War drew to a close, there was much speculation that George Washington, then Major General and Commander-in-Chief, would follow in the footsteps of former world leaders by making a grab for supreme power. Some even wished he would do so, hoping he would become the king of a new nation. Yet Washington knew that such a move would wither the fragile beginnings of the new republic. Looking to the Roman general Cincinnatus an exemplar, Washington rejected the temptations of power and resigned his position as Commander-in-Chief. Choosing the right is almost never easy, and as Washington read his speech in front of the Continental Congress, the great statesman trembled so much that he had to hold the parchment with two hands to keep it steady. “The spectators all wept, and there was hardly a member of Congress who did not drop tears. His voice faltered and sunk, and the whole house felt his agitations.” When finished, Washington bolted from the door of the Annapolis State House, mounted his horse, and galloped away into the sunset.
Worthy Excerpt:
While I repeat my obligations
to the Army in general, I should do injustice to my own feelings not to acknowledge in this place the peculiar Services and distinguished merits of the Gentlemen who have been attached to my person during the War. It was impossible the choice of confidential Officers to compose my family should have been more fortunate. Permit me Sir, to recommend in particular those, who have continued in Service to the present moment, as worthy of the favorable notice and patronage of Congress.
I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my Official life, by commending the Interests of our dearest Country to the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence of them, to his holy keeping.
Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theater of Action; and bidding an Affectionate farewell to this August body under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my Commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life.
Read the full text here.
Mahatma Gandhi, “Quit India”
August 8, 1942; India
While the battle for freedom and democracy raged across the world, the people of India were engaged in their own fight for liberty. For almost a century, India had been under the direct rule of the British crown, and many Indians had had enough. Mahatma Gandhi and the National Indian Congress pushed for a completely non-violent movement aimed at forcing Britain to “Quit India.” Gandhi, pioneer of the tactics of non-violent civil disobedience, called for their use on August 8, 1942 with the passing of the Quit India Resolution demanding complete independence from British rule.
Worthy Excerpt:
I believe that in the history of the world, there has not been a more genuinely democratic struggle for freedom than ours. I read Carlyle’s French Resolution while I was in prison, and Pandit Jawaharlal has told me something about the Russian revolution. But it is my conviction that inasmuch as these struggles were fought with the weapon of violence they failed to realize the democratic ideal. In the democracy which I have envisaged, a democracy established by non-violence, there will be equal freedom for all. Everybody will be his own master. It is to join a struggle for such democracy that I invite you today. Once you realize this you will forget the differences between the Hindus and Muslims, and think of yourselves as Indians only, engaged in the common struggle for independence.
Read full text of speech here.
Winston Churchill, “Their Finest Hour”
June 18, 1940; House of Commons, London
On May 10, 1940, the Germans began their invasion of France. On June 14 Paris fell. In a matter of days, France would surrender and England would stand as Europe’s lone bulwark against the twin evils of Fascism and Nazism. At this critical moment, Churchill gave his third and final speech during the Battle of France, once again imparting words meant to bring hope in this dark hour.
Worthy Excerpt:
What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us.
Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science.
Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.’
Read full text of speech here.
William Faulkner, “Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech”
December 10, 1950; Stockholm, Sweden
A true master of the written word, William Faulkner did not often make public his gift for the spoken variety. So there was some interest as to what he would say when accepting the Nobel Peace Prize for his “powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel.” The year was 1950, the Soviet Union had tapped the potential of the atomic bomb, and the atmosphere in the the United States crackled with the fear of them using it. Faulkner challenged poets, authors, and all mankind to think beyond the questions of “When will I be blown up?” and instead continue to “create out of the materials of the human spirit something which did not exist before.”
Worthy Excerpt:
I decline to accept the end of man. It is easy enough to say that man is immortal because he will endure: that when the last ding-dong of doom has clanged and faded from the last worthless rock hanging tideless in the last red and dying evening, that even then there will still be one more sound: that of his puny inexhaustible voice, still talking. I refuse to accept this. I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. The poet’s, the writer’s, duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past. The poet’s voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.
Read full text of speech here.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, “Farewell Address”
January 17, 1961; Washington, D.C.
The 1950’s were a time of ever increasing military spending, as the United States sought to fight communism abroad and prevent it at home. As President Dwight D. Eisenhower left office, more than half of the federal budget was allocated for defense purposes. Eisenhower, former General of the Army, was certainly not opposed to the use of military power to keep the peace. Still, he saw fit to use his “Farewell Address” to warn the nation of the dangers posed by the “military-industrial complex,” referring to the relationship between the armed forces, the government, and the suppliers of war materials. Eisenhower was wary of the large role defense spending played in the economy, and understood the political and corporate corruption that could result if the public was not vigilant in checking it.
Worthy Excerpt:
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
Read full text of speech here.
Marcus Tullius Cicero, “The First Oration Against Catiline”
63 BC; Rome
Lucius Sergius Catilina (Catiline to his friends) was a very jealous man. Having once run against Cicero for the position of consul and lost, he became determined to win the next election by any devious method necessary. Plan A was to bribe people to vote for him, and when that didn’t work, he decided to go for bust and simply knock Cicero off on election day. This plan was ferreted out by the ever vigilant Cicero, the election was postponed, and the Senate established marital law. When the election finally was held, the murderer-cum-candidate was surprisingly trounced at the polls. Now it was time for Catiline’s Plan C: raise an army of co-conspirators, create insurrection throughout Italy, overthrow the government, and slice and dice as many Senators as they could get their coo-ky hands on. But Cicero was again one step ahead and discovered the plan. He called the Senate together for a meeting at the Temple of Jupiter in the Capitol, an orifice only used in times of great crisis. Catiline, who seriously didn’t know when he was not welcome, decided to crash the party. With his archenemy in attendance, Cicero began his Catiline Orations, a series of speeches covering how he saved Rome from rebellion, the guilt of Catiline, and the need to whack he and his cronies.
Worthy Excerpt:
I wish, O conscript fathers, to be merciful; I wish not to appear negligent amid such danger to the state; but I do now accuse myself of remissness and culpable inactivity. A camp is pitched in Italy, at the entrance of Etruria, in hostility to the republic; the number of the enemy increases every day; and yet the general of that camp, the leader of those enemies, we see within the walls-aye, and even in the senate-planning every day some internal injury to the republic. If, O Catiline, I should now order you to be arrested, to be put to death, I should, I suppose, have to fear lest all good men should say that I had acted tardily, rather than that any one should affirm that I acted cruelly. But yet this, which ought to have been done long since, I have good reason for not doing as yet; I will put you to death, then, when there shall be not one person possible to be found so wicked, so abandoned, so like yourself, as not to allow that it has been rightly done. As long as one person exists who can dare to defend you, you shall live; but you shall live as you do now, surrounded by my many and trusty guards, so that you shall not be able to stir one finger against the republic; many eyes and ears shall still observe and watch you, as they have hitherto done, tho you shall not perceive them.
Read full text of speech here.
Ronald Reagan, “Remarks at the Brandenburg Gate”
June 12, 1987; Brandenburg Gate, Berlin
Since the end of World War II, Germany had been a divided country, the West free and democratic, the East under authoritarian communist control. When President Reagan took office, he was committed not only to uniting that country, but to bringing down the entire “Evil Empire.” While the importance of Reagan’s role in successfully doing so is endlessly debated, it beyond dispute that he exerted some influence in bringing the Cold War to an end. There is no more memorable and symbolic moment of this influence then when Reagan stood at the Berlin wall, the most visible symbol of the “Iron Curtain,” and challenged Gorbachev to “tear down this wall!”
Worthy Excerpt:
We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
Read full text of speech here.
Pericles, “Funeral Oration”
431 BC; Athens
Pericles, master statesman, orator, and general, was truly, as Thuciydies dubbed him, “the first citizen of Athens.” Pericles was a product of the Sophists and had been personally tutored by the great philosopher Anaxagoras. His study with the Sophists made Pericles a highly persuasive orator. Through his speeches, he galvanized Athenians to undertake an enormous public works project that created hundreds of temples, including the Pantheon.
Pericles’ gift of oration was put to the test during the epic battles of the Peloponnesian War, a civil war between Athens and Sparta. His speeches inspired Athenians to fight to become the number one power in Greece. In February of 431 B.C., Athens had their annual public funeral to honor all those who died in war. Pericles was asked to give the traditional funeral oration. Rather than focus his speech on enumerating the conquests of Athens’ fallen heroes, Pericles instead used his funeral oration to laud the glory of Athens itself and inspire the living to make sure the soldiers had not died in vain.
Over 2,000 years later, Pericles’ funeral oration inspired Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address.” Like Pericles, Lincoln was a leader during a time of civil war. Like Pericles, Lincoln focused on exhorting the living to live their lives in a way that would make the sacrifice of fallen warriors worthwhile.
Worthy Excerpt:
So died these men as became Athenians. You, their survivors, must determine to have as unfaltering a resolution in the field, though you may pray that it may have a happier issue. And not contented with ideas derived only from words of the advantages which are bound up with the defense of your country, though these would furnish a valuable text to a speaker even before an audience so alive to them as the present, you must yourselves realize the power of Athens, and feed your eyes upon her from day to day, till love of her fills your hearts; and then, when all her greatness shall break upon you, you must reflect that it was by courage, sense of duty, and a keen feeling of honor in action that men were enabled to win all this, and that no personal failure in an enterprise could make them consent to deprive their country of their valor, but they laid it at her feet as the most glorious contribution that they could offer.
Read the full text here.
General Douglas MacArthur, “Farewell Address to Congress”
April 19, 1951, Washington; D.C.
During the Korean War, General MacArthur and President Truman clashed over the threat posed by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and their incursion into Korea. MacArthur continually pressed Truman for permission to bomb bases in Manchuria, believing the war needed to be extended in area and scope. Truman refused the General’s requests, arguing that directly drawing China into the war would arouse the Soviet Union to action. MacArthur continued to press his case, and Truman, accusing the General of insubordination, made the decision to relieve MacArthur of his command. After serving for 52 years and in three wars, the General’s military career was over. MacArthur returned to the United States and gave this farewell address to Congress.
Worthy Excerpt:
I am closing my 52 years of military service. When I joined the Army, even before the turn of the century, it was the fulfillment of all of my boyish hopes and dreams. The world has turned over many times since I took the oath on the plain at West Point, and the hopes and dreams have long since vanished, but I still remember the refrain of one of the most popular barrack ballads of that day which proclaimed most proudly that “old soldiers never die; they just fade away.”
And like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty.
Good Bye.
Read full text of speech here.
Theodore Roosevelt, “Strength and Decency”
Roosevelt was an advocate of having many children and making sure the next generation would continue to uphold the great virtues of civilization. He was always concerned that young men not be coddled or cowardly, and grow up to live rugged, strenuous, and thoroughly manly lives. But he also strongly believed that being ruggedly manly and being refined in mind and spirit were not incompatible and should in fact go hand and hand. In this speech, he exhorts young men to pursue virtuous manliness. Amen, brother, amen.
Worthy Excerpt:
It is peculiarly incumbent upon you who have strength to set a right example to others. I ask you to remember that you cannot retain your self-respect if you are loose and foul of tongue, that a man who is to lead a clean and honorable life must inevitably suffer if his speech likewise is not clean and honorable. Every man here knows the temptations that beset all of us in this world. At times any man will slip. I do not expect perfection, but I do expect genuine and sincere effort toward being decent and cleanly in thought, in word, and in deed. As I said at the outset, I hail the work of this society as typifying one of those forces which tend to the betterment and uplifting of our social system. Our whole effort should be toward securing a combination of the strong qualities with those qualities which we term virtues. I expect you to be strong. I would not respect you if you were not. I do not want to see Christianity professed only by weaklings; I want to see it a moving spirit among men of strength. I do not expect you to lose one particle of your strength or courage by being decent. On the contrary, I should hope to see each man who is a member of this society, from his membership in it become all the fitter to do the rough work of the world; all the fitter to work in time of peace; and if, which may Heaven forfend, war should come, all the fitter to fight in time of war. I desire to see in this country the decent men strong and the strong men decent, and until we get that combination in pretty good shape we are not going to be by any means as successful as we should be. There is always a tendency among very young men and among boys who are not quite young men as yet to think that to be wicked is rather smart; to think it shows that they are men. Oh, how often you see some young fellow who boasts that he is going to “see life,” meaning by that that he is going to see that part of life which it is a thousandfold better should remain unseen!
Read full text of speech here.
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{ 101 comments… read them below or add one }
This is some fantastic content. I thank you for pulling this together as I plan to refer to this post frequently to seek inspiration and learn from these great speaches.
http://www.archive.org/details/presidential_recordings
You can find most of the more modern speeches here. There may even be readings of older speeches on there too.
WELL DONE
Hit everyone of my favorites and introduced me to a few new ones.
Now we need to Go to the Forums and start a “Best Fictional Speech Thread”
I am surprised that you did not include Obama’s speech on race in America. I had actually given up on having a modern day speaker with the abilities as those who have come before. (Most people in your list, with the exception of Ronald Reagan, are almost 60 plus years ago.) Regardless of how one feels about Obama’s politics, I think that the race in America speech is both seminal and oratorically badass.
I agree with Hayden. The only counter is that it is too new. I hate that argument but some people will make it.
That speech was one for the ages and when looked at 10 years from now, we will remember it fondly…
@Hayden-
I’m afraid I’ll have to make the argument that Kevin detests. You cannot truly measure the greatness of a speech until quite awhile after it is given in my opinion. This is true of all history. I teach US History and I end the class in the 1970’s as it takes several decades to really evaluate the significance of what happened previously. Will people be re-reading and re-listening to Obama’s speech 50 years from now? Will the speech have had any impact on race relations in this country? Only time will tell.
Where are the speeches of Malcolm X? I believe his words are as motivating , maybe even more than, the speeches I see above.
The list is great, but more importantly for me, thank you for pointing me to the American Rhetoric site. That’s amazing. I never thought to look for a site like that, though I enjoy live oratory. The link was the best part of your post for me.
Marshall
A great list indeed, but incomplete by one: General George S. Patton, Jr.
“I don’t want to get any messages saying, “I am holding my position.” We are not holding a god-damned thing. Let the Germans do that. We are advancing constantly and we are not interested in holding onto anything, except the enemy’s balls. We are going to twist his balls and kick the living shit out of him all of the time. Our basic plan of operation is to advance and to keep on advancing regardless of whether we have to go over, under, or through the enemy. We are going to go through him like crap through a goose; like shit through a tin horn!”
This is very good collection of greatest speech in history but you are missing a very important leader, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
The Speech (Nutuk), which relates events in the Turkish War of Independence, the foundation of the Turkish Republic and the carrying out of revolutionary reforms, is a work that the founder of the Turkish Republic Mustafa Kemal Atatürk himself wrote and left to history.
Very Good Point Ä°lkin Balkanay !
A welcome addition to the resource list. American Rhetoric does a great job of compiling speeches, but a poor job of summarizing why it excels or even basic background of the speaker. Thank you for once again taking something one step further and breaking it down for general consumption!
Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address:
“…if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. With malice toward none, with charity for all…”
His Gettysburg Address weren’t half bad, either.
Chief Seattle’s famous speech is probably a myth, but it’s one of the best, too.
And what about the speech President Bush gave on Sept. 11… No, I mean George H.W. Bush’s “Toward a New World Order” speech given on Sept. 11, 1990. The first use of the term “new world order”. One of the greatest? Naw, but it makes you wonder.
Oh, and I loved DeGaulle’s “vive la Quebec LIBRE” speech, the day before he was to address the Canada Parliment, when Canada was on the brink of civil war. He flew back to France without addressing Parliment. Leaving no doubt how he stood on the issue… hehe.
This is a fantastic compilation. I plan on listening/reading all of these.
Great post,
Marlon
Balkanay, you should be glad that almost one third of the speeches (if we include Chief Joseph as a non-American) are by foreigners. That’s really very good for a US website. Almost open-minded.
One speech missing, in my humble opinion, is Theodore Roosevelt’s speech delivered at the Sorbonne in 1910.
“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat. “
Great collection,
From my perspective I recommend Speach of Józef Beck, polish foreign affairs minister, during II World War.
There is, for me most inspirative passus.
Great job!
this is ibdeed an excellent collection of speeches. However, to call it the 35 greatest of all time, may be a bit ambitious and a considerably ethnocentric since it clearly has an anglo bias. i find insulting and difficult to believe that you could not include a speech given by a hipanic figure, etc. Spain and the Americas have a long tradition of great orators.
@Father V-
The title of the speech you reference by TR is “Citizenship in a Republic,” and we did indeed include it in the list. Check page 3.
@Rich-
If you believe a Hispanic speech is worthy of the greatest 35 orations of all time, please share some specific suggestions.
i doubt that more than half of the greatest speeches in history were made by American presidents.
Great set of speeches, though I must concur with those who say that the title is a bit of an exaggeration. There is a certain bias…it’s not really anglo bias…more of an American / Whig tradition bias really, to account for the presence of Greek and Roman orators. As others have pointed out, there are no examples of Eastern speakers, save for (technically) Jesus Christ. There are no examples from medieval Christendom even, so its not even a Western bias.
Still, a great collection of speeches. I’d link to it if I had a website.
Lunar Farside is right. and many great speeches have been missed. For example Adolf Hitler is not on this list. He was one of the greatest speakers of the 20th century.
Good article and interesting read but misleading title. The speeches are all western and mostly American speeches and I think that should be added to the title, 35 greatest speeches from the western world.
I know American’s don’t get out much, but there is a whole world out there, with thinkers and orators that will leave you mesmerised. And frankly not even acknowledging this point is arrogance in the extreme.
@Lunar and others-
I understand that the knee-jerk reaction to any list that includes many great white dead men is to cry Western civilization bias, but the fact is that oratory was an art developed and prized in well, the Western civilization. If you are right, Solaiman, that we are “extremely arrogant” in our choices, then I challenge you to make specific recommendations of great speeches that we omitted. Otherwise, making blanket statements of our bias rings rather hollow indeed.
@Sam-
If you read the criteria for truly great oratory as outlined in the introduction, you will see that Hitler does not fit the requirements. Oratory is defined as more than electrifying or well-crafted speech, it must also appeal to humanity’s greatest values and ideals. Here, Hitler, I think we will agree, falls far, far short.
I have enjoyed the citations. However, the criteria of evaluating the speeches are missing. If the speeches are listed without such, some people may wish to add to the speakers Hitler and Stalin, possibly Lenin. In fact, even Napoleon’s speeches, e.g. those given during the “100 days” after his return from the island of Elba, would belong there.
@Nicholas-
The criteria are clearly posted in the intro under “How did we compile this list.”
@Brett-
I think you did a great job singling out the greatest Speeches available to you, I sure if you had been exposed to Speeches written in Polish by an obscure minister 70 some years ago you would have included it. I’m not going to damn you for expressing your opinion.
Thanks for not damning me Meiji man. I think people have to realize that while their favorite speech from an obscure Polish minister may have been great, we had to pick the 35 greatest from the millions of speeches that have ever been given in world history. Lots of speeches are great, but are they top 35 great….that is the question….
What about the great caribbean leaders like Marcus Garvey, Norman Manley or even Fidel Castro?
But Great mentions otherwise.
Again, I commend the effort, but fault the title. These are 35 nice sppeches, but it is just not possible to know whether they are the greatest of all time. Not only is the list not sufficiently representative of the majority of the worlds’ great civiizations, one person representing one single and unavoidably biased point of view point of view cannot possibly serve as an impartial judge. There is no point in even arguing the point, the title should be corrected to read, “My 35 Favorite Speeches”
“I understand that the knee-jerk reaction to any list that includes many great white dead men is to cry Western civilization bias, but the fact is that oratory was an art developed and prized in well, the Western civilization”
Even in admitting a certain fondness in the list for Western Civilization, a great chunk of speeches cherished by that civilization is missing. No mention of great medieval speakers like Pope Urban II or Bernard of Clairveaux, or Renaissance / Reformation speakers like Bartolome de las Casas (pair that guy with Wilberforce…), John Calvin, Robert Bellarmine and Ignatius of Loyola. Or, post-Enlightenment, Napoleon Bonaparte.
Even the body of work produced by the West seems difficult to compile into a list of 35. Those who bemoan the absence of work from the Eastern civilizations should probably compile their own lists…doing the West is tough enough.
One of the glaring moral issues of the day was slavery, and after reading up on the subject and meeting with anti-slavery activists, Wilberforce became convinced that God was calling him to be an abolitionist. Wilberforce decided to concentrate on ending the slave trade rather than slavery itself, reasoning that the abolition of one would logically lead to the demise of the other. On May 12, 1789, Wilberforce made his first speech on the abolition of the slave trade before the House of Commons. He passionately made his case for why the trade was reprehensible and needed to cease.
@Brett McKay
#but the fact is that oratory was an art developed and prized in well, the Western civilization.#
You see, this is what i mean by arrogance?
@Rich-I’ll make that title change when movie critics start writing lists called “My favorite movies of 2008,” instead of “the best movies of 2008,” and restaurant and travel guides start saying “my favorite restaurants in New York,” and “my favorite things to do in Spain.” I wonder if Time magazine will stop running their “Person of the Year” and change it to “Our Favorite Person of the Year,” After all how can a single editorial board make that call???
@Jonathan R.-I understand your point, but I would return to my point that 35 is a very select group. While Loyola and others made interesting speeches that might make the top 200, when push comes to shove, others speeches will beat them for the top.
@Solaiman- Sorry, nope, don’t see it. It is a historical fact that oratory developed and flourished in ancient Greece and Rome, was resurrected in Europe, and exported to America. Scholarship on the subject argues that true oratory really only flourishes under democratic regimes. If any arrogance is present it it is with arguing a case not based on scholarship but on some bit of wistful multiculturalism devoid of facts.
I was about to give three aspects of a great speech, but at the last minute got a hunch to look at the criteria for this list. Mine are essentially the same: Delivery, Content and Consequence.
Hitler was all delivery. His content was a banal mix of whine, blame them, praise us. No need to comment on the consequences.
DeGaulle, was a master of plainspoken French. I’ve been told that if you want to learn French, listen to him. His regular speeches from England motivated the French people to continue resisting the German occupiers, with considerable effect.
I’d be very interested in knowing about Mustafa Kemal, Attaturk as a speaker. As a visionary and national savior, he’s among the most important leaders of the 20th century. Consider that Attaturk came along when Turkey was in the exact same circumstance as Germany at the end of WWI. While Germany was taken to the cleaners with reparations, setting the stage for Hitler’s rise to power, Attaturk apparently kept the allies from raping Turkey’s economy, and with radical vision, brought the country from an Ottoman country ruled by corrupt clerics and sultans, into the modern western sphere.
And finally, I’m amazed that nobody has mentioned Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech. In terms of delivery, content and consequence, King delivered many noteable speeches, with that one simply being the best known.
What a great topic! I’ve always loved the disappearing art of oration.
One final speech: Four years ago, one afternoon, I turned on the radio to the local NPR station which was giving live coverage of the Democratic national convention. A speech was in progress, and I became more and more impressed with what was being said, by this speaker who was delivering a positive, conciliatory message. When the speech was over, it was the first time I heard the name “Barak Obama”. Words have power.
Another notable mention: Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty of Give Me Death” speech.
Another notable mention: Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech.
Oh, come on – THREE speeches by Reagan and FOUR by Teddy Roosevelt??
In all the speeches of all time, THREE by Reagan? Sheesh.
I’m not even religious, but I would think that Jesus would get one. Maybe Mohammed made a great speech? I mean millions of people treat these 2 guys as good, and we have records of their speeches. They must have done SOMETHING right.
@Aaron-You’ll find Henry’s speech on page 3.
@Moon-Jesus is on page 3 as well. Please read more carefully before being so critical.
Couple things– great speeches, some I’ve heard some I have not. If I can recommend one to the list and then make a correction to the author.
I’ll start with the correction. Teddy Roosevelt was the youngest American president. So the statement that JFK was “The youngest president in United States history,” is false. He was the youngest elected president.
As per my suggestion– I’d like to recommend Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s speech, “The Cross and the Double Cross”, it can be found here:
http://www.catholicmil.org/html/fultonsheen.php?id=648
Your heading “The 35 Greatest Speeches in History” is not quite correct, it should be “The 30 Greatest Speeches in US History.” This way the few odd men like Winston Churchill, Alexander the Great, Charles de Gaulle, Demosthenes and William Wilberforce can be left out of it.
Having scanned views of some others, I have seen that this observation has been made by many others too. Someone has even suggested a very apt title “My 35 Favorite Speeches.”
Your claim to base the selection on style, substance, and impact is indeed correct but surely not well represented in your selection from the entire world’s history.
@Ihsan-
If you did indeed read the comments, than you already know my response. If you feel there are speeches that should have been included but have not been, then please make some suggestions. Otherwise, your comment carries no weight with me.
U should add Jawahar lal Nehru’s ‘tryst with destiny’.Mahatama Gandhi gathered hundred and thousands to listen to what he had to say.He had the power to shake d entire colonial government with what he had to say. Dont they teach world history in your schools or is it just american history ?
Two observations re the Sermon on the Mount:
Proof of the actual existence of Jesus is lacking; the earliest books of the NT were written more than a hundred years after his “death”.
The concept of “an eye for an eye” as bloody retribution/revenge has been mis-interpreted for hundreds of years. It’s truer meaning comes closer to “let the punishment ft the crime”. Jewish law before that allowed disproportionate sentences, as to this day, many Islamist laws do; (cutting off the hand for minor theft, etc). A google search of the phrase will yield much corroboration.
Macolm X “Ballot or the Bullet” http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/malcolmxballotorbullet.htm
This isn’t a PhD defense, it is a list on a blog. Relax, his site = his top 35.
Thanks for putting it together. Well written and I appreciate the excerpting of the speeches.
‘Proof of the actual existence of Jesus is lacking; the earliest books of the NT were written more than a hundred years after his “deathâ€?.’
Not quite right. There have been several historical proofs of Jesus’ existence, including evidence from non-Christian sources like Josephus. And, the earliest gospels were written within 30 years of His death, by apostles or people close to them. (Mark and Matthew come to mind.)
On another note…
Its kinda shameful that I only remember this just because the great man just died, but this list missed out on Solzhenitsyn. Both his Templeton Address and his Harvard Address are up there with any US President’s speech any day.
“More than half a century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of older people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.
Since then I have spent well-nigh fifty years working on the history of our Revolution; in the process I have read hundreds of books, collected hundreds of personal testimonies, and have already contributed eight volumes of my own toward the effort of clearing away the rubble left by that upheaval. But if I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of the ruinous Revolution that swallowed up some sixty million of our people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.
What is more, the events of the Russian Revolution can only be understood now, at the end of the century, against the background of what has since occurred in the rest of the world. What emerges here is a process of universal significance. And if I were called upon to identify briefly the principal trait of the entire twentieth century, here too, I would be unable to find anything more precise and pithy than to repeat once again: Men have forgotten God.”
- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Templeton Prize acceptance address, 1983
I know that it is a fictional speech, but Henry the Fifth’s St. Crispen’s Day Speech written by Shakespeare is one of my favorites. I would include Patton’s speech, although there are several problems with the vernacular that he uses.
Good list, probably is a bit centered in us Americans but that same bias would be present in any country. Hard to avoid so no one should complain too much about it.
Jonathan R. whether or not Jesus actually existed is open for debate. There are a few references to a person named Jesus outside of the Bible but that is a far cry from proving the Jesus of the Bible actually existed.
That speech by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn isn’t all that convincing. Using their three variables; I cannot comment on delivery since I did not see it but content and consequence I can. As for content all he does is blame the lack of faith for the decline of the USSR. That is simply a grossly wrong statement. There were a ton of things wrong with Communist Russia but lack of god is not one of them. Consequences…well I don’t think there were any. As you said yourself you only remembered it because he died.
Oh it is tough to whittle down the greats to a small number! I do think that there is a little overkill on Teddy R. and Ronald Regan. And three other worthwhile contenders deserve to be mentioned. I guess that should be two orators and three speaches.
First the no contest greatest oration ever –by the Boy orator of the Platte,–the great William Jennings Bryan, the Cross of Gold speech. Which rings even more true now in the era of neocons than it did in the era of robber barons.
Second the two Memorial day speeches of Oliver Wendell Holmes. Really moving memorials to those who gave their lives by a man who saw the horrors of combat on a scale that God willing American soldiers will never have to experience again.
Also thanks for your blog it is a breath of fresh air in a stifiling atmosphere of “modern” political correctness. Keep up the good work .
Long live the Menassaince!
A good read.
Most are American, but US was the most influential nation of last century so I think that’s justified.
@Brett
Kudos. A very ambitious and worthy undertaking this is. I will indeed be working my way through these speeches as the days pass.
In reading the above arguments and cacophony of “offended” dissension, my meager two-cents worth is that when someone runs a website, it’s their prerogative to voice their opinion. I disagree with several entries (It’s often a Teddy Roosevelt love fest here) but I feel that the ART of one’s Manliness is to gather the comments and not post angry retorts but concise examples as rebuttal. So that we can all look, as I have, at the suggestions and learn from each of us. I don’t mind clever arguments, but the whole “my orator is better than your orator” should be left to the debate club geeks. This forum should reinforce manliness/gentlemanliness and have proper point/counterpoint.
Missing in my opinion: Jesus/Confucius (same thing), MLK, Henry V, maybe Knute Rockne.
@Kaiseroze-
I appreciate your comments. As you said, what is lacking in many of the angry comments above are concrete examples of what we missed. I don’t mind dissension, but it needs to be backed up.
And I appreciate your suggestions, but please note that Jesus and MLK can both be found on page 3.
BTW,
@ those who ridicule American education:
Correct me if I’m wrong but, when it comes to our “government” education, don’t be surprised when all of us miss out on something that wasn’t in the “curriculum”. Government Education is opportunistic in relation to it’s cause. That goes for Social Europeans as well. Granted, our system isn’t spectacular, but overall this country allows us to find answers and confront the incorrect ones freely and openly, maybe a little more than others. Don’t knock it too much.
Sure, you put the list together, so you can call it anything you want. As long as you and I and the rest of the readers know the truth. While it is a nice littlle exercise to collect these speeches, it is frankly naive to give them the title of the greatest ever. You must have known that when you put the list together ad if you did not, I would then question your credentials and knowledge on the topic.
Correction:
Kennedy’s speech exhorting America to go to the moon was not delivered in Washington, D.C. It was delivered in Rice Stadium at Rice University, Houston, TX. You can clearly see this behind Kennedy in the picture.
That list is pure and brilliant.
Martin Luther King Jr and Winston Churchill I’ve always known, but these others are good to add.
Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is ironic, I think, in that it really is more remembered than the battle…
Good day!
It is very informative and has a very good quality in it.
I like it…
http://www.Squidoo.com/MPI
mliragana.blogspot.com
Thank you very much for your time.
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/prophet/lastsermon.html
Delivered in the year 632 CE.
“All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over a white – except by piety and good action.”
One speech that I’m surprised is not here is David Lange’s speech as the Prime Minister of New Zealand, announcing that New Zealand was breaking a long-standing defense treaty with the United States over the issue of nuclear weapons. Entitled, “Nuclear Weapons are Morally Indefensible”, he laid out the arguments of the title, and why therefore New Zealand must no longer be party to their relationship with the US and other powers. Here’s a powerful excerpt:
“The great strength of the West, in fact, lies not in the force of arms – although some would seek under the cover of a benign democracy to argue that it is in fact the force of arms – but it lies in its free and democratic systems of government.
That is why, in spite of all the difficulties and disagreements which we have amongst friends and allies, I am not disheartened. I came to Great Britain by way of the United States, where I put my case to the American people through the news media without any kind of hindrance from the United States Administration.
Members of Her Majesty’s Government have made it plain to me that they do not hold with the views I am committed to. I in fact have heard those before. The other night I heard them from Washington. They were compelling. They were a restatement of the United Kingdom position, and they were said with such candour and frankness that they seemed to persist even after the volume had been turned off. They were done with a strength and a purpose and a vigour.
I want to say that notwithstanding that difference, I have felt welcome here. I have been freely able to express my views. I can say freely whatever I please. Just as any member of Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom would be welcome in New Zealand to expound any line of argument in any forum she cared to use. That is the true strength of the West.
And that is a strength which is threatened, not defended, by nuclear weapons. The appalling character of those weapons has robbed us of our right to determine our destiny and subordinates our humanity to their manic logic. They have subordinated reason to irrationality and placed our very will to live in hostage. Rejecting the logic of nuclear weapons does not mean surrendering to evil; evil must still be guarded against. Rejecting nuclear weapons is to assert what is human over the evil nature of the weapon; it is to restore to humanity the power of the decision; it is to allow a moral force to reign supreme. It stops the macho lurch into mutual madness.
And for me, the position of my country is a genuine long-term affirmation of this proposition: that nuclear weapons are morally indefensible. And I support that proposition.”
Here’s a transcript, a recording, and some contextualizing notes:
http://www.publicaddress.net/default,1578.sm#post
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Collins_(British_Army_officer)#Speech_excerpt
Speech given by Colonel Tim Collins of the First Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment, on the eve of battle before they entered Kuwait in March 2003.
If it interests any one, check out his book Rules of Engagament, Life in Conflict.
Fantastic list, and while some were unknown to me, given the bona fides, I can’t argue with the selections.
As you’ve pointed out, simply arguing that the list is biased is intellectually lazy. If you think other orations are worthy, list them (as some have).
I’d have to include Patton’s speech. Also, I don’t put nearly as much stock in speeches which were written by others and merely delivered by the speaker. While I’m a Reagan supporter, I’d have to put him largely in that category. Speakers such as Churchill and Roosevelt penned their own words.
oration;science clubbing optimized;igniting and innovating
What? No Lincoln? The second inaugural address was amazing..
What? Hitler isn’t on here? I mean he was an awful man and all, but some of his speeches should at least be considered.
Mostly English speakers, and no African Americans–Where’s MLK, Malcom X, Obama…?
Please add Barack Obama’s victory speech and MLK’s “I Have A Dream”. Come on, if you’re going to list speeches, you should definitely have “I Have A Dream”
aaron you point is good
Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty of Give Me Death” speech. This is one of the greatest speeches the world can boost of.
Personally, I thought it was a fantastic list. Of course there are speeches missing that maybe are obscure to English speakers or lost to time. However, this is a very good list. I wish people would actually look at all of them before they said certain ones were missing. As much as I love my favorite two presidents, a little too heavy on TR and the Gipper.
the selection is good.but without the LAST SERMON SPEECH OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD the list is indeed incomplete
Frankly this list is very amerocentric. Feels like half the speeches on the list are American presidential speeches. And what is up with including Jesus? You can’t seriously consider the bible to have a correct transcript of a speech held 2000 years ago. Even if you are Christian you should still know the bible is written poetically, right?
I’m surprised that only two people made mention of the most beautiful speech ever made, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
Wait which one is America? Is that the loud one? Or the one with a chip on its shoulder?
Great compilation! Obama’s 2004 speech, I thought, had a chance. But keep up the job man!
Very intresting collection,
but allow me to add one more.
The speech of the Greek Prime Minister, Xenophon Zolotas , 2nd October 1959
in Washington .
It has remain in history as a proof of the uniqueness of the Greek Language.
Kyrie,
It is Zeus’ anathema on our epoch and the heresy of our economic method and policies that we should agonize the Skylla of nomismatic plethora and the Charybdis of economic anaemia.
It is not my idiosyncracy to be ironic or sarcastic but my diagnosis would be that politicians are rather cryptoplethorists. Although they emphatically stigmatize nomismatic plethora, they energize it through their tactics and practices. Our policies should be based more on economic and less on political criteria. Our gnomon has to be a metron between economic strategic and philanthropic scopes.
In an epoch characterized by monopolies, oligopolies, monopolistic antagonism and polymorphous inelasticities, our policies have to be more orthological, but this should not be metamorphosed into plethorophobia, which is endemic among academic economists.
Nomismatic symmetry should not antagonize economic acme. A greater harmonization between the practices of the economic and nomismatic archons is basic.
Parallel to this we have to synchronize and harmonize more and more our economic and nomismatic policies panethnically. These scopes are more practicable now, when the prognostics of the political end economic barometer are halcyonic.
The history of our didimus organization on this sphere has been didactic and their gnostic practices will always be a tonic to the polyonymous and idiomorphous ethnical economies. The genesis of the programmed organization will dynamize these policies.
Therefore, I sympathize, although not without criticism one or two themes with the apostles and the hierarchy of our organs in their zeal to program orthodox economic and nomismatic policies.
I apologize for having tyranized you with my Hellenic phraseology. In my epilogue I emphasize my eulogy to the philoxenous aytochtons of this cosmopolitan metropolis and my encomium to you Kyrie, the stenographers.
I have always wanted something like this, it is true there isn’t anything worthy on the internet on history’s great orators and speeches. I will definetely continue to read this, I can only ask to expand it and add more memorable speeches. I know people have argued that Obama as a great orator is to early to say, but it is undeniable that the man has it, his 2004 speech truly makes you appreciate the art of oration.
Greatest speeches? More like Greatest pseudo-patriotic demagoguery, amirite?
I can’t believe so many people are so blind to Christianity . A brilliant speech is suppose to speak to you in ways others speeches can’t. They are suppose to compell
I can’t believe so many people are so blind to Christianity . A brilliant speech is suppose to speak to you in ways others speeches can’t. They are suppose to compel a person to take stand, to really give them a reason to do better or listen. If you have read the word of the bible you would understand the feeling Jesus and is words bring upon you. And for your critique of proof the words in the bible not by Jesus were spoken through those people by Jesus and from primary account. Once you have experienced the savior you will understand. By the way i believe your list is very informative and has incredible quality.
What about the greatest acceptance speech ever, given by Joe Pesci after winning Best Supporting Oscar for “Goodfellas”? I’ll include the entire text here:
“Thanks!”
the most intrestin speeches in lates histry are from hugos chaves in 2006 in UNand barak obama
If you’re including the Sermon on the Mount, I think you have to include the St. Crispin’s Day speech.
I’m glad to see that Theodore Roosevelt, who I have long considered to be one of the best (and certainly most manly) presidents, has made the cut more than once on this list.
As far as presidential speeches go, however, I don’t think anything can top the way that Lincoln’s Second Inaugural address just flows like a river. It’s a beautiful piece of oratory history.
Wow! I was beginning to wonder when I’d see Honest Abe. I hope these are in ascending order.
I’m not joking when I say that this list needs to be updated to include Stephen Colbert’s keynote address at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner.
He may be a comedian, but that speech was pivotal, and righteous.
I’ve read all the comments here, and it’s obvious that many of you did not flip to pages 2, 3, and 4 (I nearly made the same mistake). The Gettysburgh Address is on there people!! It’s a good list, and a great idea, but the webpage layout is not the greatest.
ALSO, I think the list is a bit American-centric. And a bit victor-centric (with the exception of Chief Joseph, which was a brilliant selection). Surely there must have been some great speeches by Chinese and Muslim leaders. One poster mentioned Hitler – sure he was a real jerk, but wasn’t he supposedly a great orator? What about the Ayatolla Khomeni? Was he a good speaker? I don’t know.
Brett & Kate, I challenge you both to dig a little deeper. This is a great endeavor, and I thank you. But I think it can be better. I’d like to learn some new stuff rather than have my opinions reaffirmed.
@Kurt
Thanks for the comment. Please allow me to respond to it.
I encourage you to dig a little deeper into the introduction to the post and the history of oratory in general. Under “How did we compile this list?” we listed 3 criteria for a speech’s inclusion. One of which was:
“Substance: A speech may be flowery and charismatically presented, and yet lack any true substance at all. Great oratory must center on a worthy theme; it must appeal to and inspire the audience’s finest values and ideals.”
This is the definition of oratory as the ancient Greeks defined it. I don’t believe that Hitler or the Ayatolla Khomeni meet this criteria. Do you?
The list is also victor-centric because of the above criteria and because the right side often came out on top. This is also why many entries in the list probably confirmed your already existing opinions. I don’t believe in adding diversity simply because going outside the box makes the list seem smarter and edgier. Sometimes the best stuff did come from America, and it’s okay to admit this. This is especially true as it concerns oratory because the tradition of oratory is largely a Western tradition-great speeches come out of democracies because of the right to free speech and the fact that citizens and politicians can use the form to persuade others to their point of view. For more information on oratory check out this post:
http://artofmanliness.com/2008/07/17/resurrecting-the-lost-art-of-oratory/
Thanks alot .Please keep updating your list.So much research must have been done. I like to read speeches so much and keep on.
Lilian
Prosecutor Robert H. Jackson’s opening speech for the Nuremberg trials.
http://www.roberthjackson.org/the-man/speeches-articles/speeches/speeches-by-robert-h-jackson/opening-statement-before-the-international-military-tribunal/
one of the best posts on here in my opinion. The Roosevelt one is just brilliant.
Are you sure you didn’t mean Washington’s Farewell Address to Congress (1796)??? Hard to imagine this didn’t make it on the list.
Loved the list!! – It’s missing the “I Have a Dream” speech but other than that – Great work..
i like all the speeches!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
First, @ Michelle: Actually, the evidence FOR the existence of Jesus (regardless of what you may personally believe as to his divinity) is overwhelming. Jewish religious leaders, his most ardent opposers, never questioned his existence in the early centuries, only his origin. Josephus, the famous historian of the time, spoke of him as a real and noteworthy man. Also, the very last book of the NT, the Epistle of John (yes, I know, Revelation is the last book sequentially, but not chronologically; Revelation was written by John while he was imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos, his Letters and Epistle after his release) was written in the year 98 CE/AD, some 65 years (approximately, I can’t remember the exact length of time at the moment) after Christ’s death. He was one of the thousands of eyewitnesses to Jesus’ authenticity as a real historical figure.
Second @ Brett: Awesome list man! I loved it. And I know AoM is catching a lot of flak here for including fo many Westerners and Americans, but, let’s face it, only in relatively modern times have so many speeches been able to directly reach so many people, thanks to modern communication technology. Sure, there may be a slight bias, but that would be true of any author, depending on his personal location and preferences.
I think 2 more speeches are necessary:
1. Mercy for Leopold and Loeb – made by Clarence Darrow- One of the greatest legal speeches of all times.
2. Another legal speech – the opening statement made by the prosecutor in the Adolph Eichmann Case in Israel (some state that it was written by the man who was then prime minister in Israel). Since most are not familiar with it – Here is the opening paragraph:
“Here, where I stand before you honorable judges of Israel, to prosecute Adolph Eichmann, I do not stand alone; with me stand here, at this hour, six million prosecutors. Yet they could not rise to their feet, point an accusing figure towards the glass chamber and shout at the man sitting there “I accuse him!”, because thier ashes are piling between the hills of Auschwitz and the fields of Treblinka, is washed away in the rivers of Poland and their tombs litter the length and width of Europe. Their blood cries out, but their voices can not be heard. Therefore, I shall be their mouth, and word their terrible accusations”
I have had the pleasure of teaching college courses in American Oratory for three decades. The subject is so huge, even restricted to American history, that I have had to divide it into four genres: political, religious, legal, and humorous (comedic) oratory. And these genres are covered in two courses.
To discuss any art form in terms of the greatest of all time is fraught with subjectivity and ethnocentrism. A list created by genre, divided by nationality or culture, is far more defensible. So to list Lincoln as the United States’ greatest political orator of the 19th century, might still leave room for debate, but it shortens the list considerably.
Still, it is always a seductive challenge to try to determine the best of all time, whether talking oratory, golf, or beer. So If I had to choose the best orator of all time in terms of lasting impact, I would have to say Jesus. I am agnostic and still come to this conclusion for the reason that he held no office, wrote no books, conquered no countries, and headed no armies. All he did was deliver sermons. His total words spoken amount to a mere two hours of talking. Yet those two hours have created a spiritual (and physical) empire that has a presence in every country in the world.
By the same criteria I would have to judge Mohammed a similar success. His powerful reach across time and territory is undeniable.
As others have pointed out, as lists go, I think the 35 presented here is quite good as a list serving the Western perspective and manliness. It, at a minimum, exposes many to speeches they had never heard of before and therefore serves as a great little education in this niche of liberal arts.
Now, I agree with those who want to take on great speeches in film to create a similar list. I begin with three: THE COLLEGE OF CORPORATIONS speech in NETWORK,
GREED by Gordon Gekko in WALL STREET, and YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH by Jack Nicholson in (can’t remember the name of the film).
I loved perusing this list. As much as I love President T. R. Roosevelt, I would have pulled one of his speeches to make room for Elie Weisel’s “The Perils of Indifference”
I think Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman?” should be in there as well. That was a short but wonderful speech.
Great list overall. I was glad to see someone like Lou Gehrig on the list, and not just politicians.
If I may suggest a handful of others, the Irish rebels of 1916 gave some great speeches, whether they be the elevated language of P. H. Pearse, or the working man’s rough wisdom of James Connolly.
On a less serious note, Al Pacino’s speech in Any Given Sunday is masterful, fiction or not.
Great!!
I. The disciples had little motivation to lie.
A. Not only was it contrary to their strict morality, it would gain them nothing.
B. Being a Christian back then was a ticket to ridicule and persecution. They were promised the same fate as their Master (Matt. 10:23-25).
C. Every apostle except John (who probably died a natural death) was killed because of his belief in Jesus. In other words, they signed their testimony in blood.
——————————————————————————–
II. In a court of law these writers would qualify as the very best of witnesses.
A. In court, the testimony of a witness can be impeached by one of five lines of attack:
1. By proving that the witness, on a previous occasion, has made statements inconsistent with his present testimony.
2. By demonstrating bias in the witness.
3. By attacking the character of the witness.
4. By questioning the capacity in the witness to observe, remember, or recount the matters testified about.
5. By proving through other witnesses that material facts are otherwise than as testified.
B. The testimony of these men is not vulnerable to any of these charges:
1. There is no conflicting or inconsistent testimony.
a. There is no evidence that the Gospel writers claimed at a previous time that the events in question never happened.
b. Instead, they began proclaiming the salient facts from the outset and those facts didn’t change.
2. The issue of bias and self-interest strengthens the credibility of the witnesses’ testimony rather than weakens it.
a. The lives of the witnesses to Jesus Christ were continually in peril. In many cases the early Christians were driven underground into hiding, yet they clung fervently to their testimony, affirming the teachings of Jesus and His resurrection from the dead.
b. For this testimony they were crucified en mass, fed to the lions, sacrificed by Roman gladiators, beheaded or made into human torches.
c. One simple thing would have saved them this torment: recanting their testimony. These witnesses did exactly the opposite of what self-interest would dictate.
3. There is no evidence to impugn the witnesses’ character, indicating that they might be lying.
Not only was it totally inconsistent with the moral standard they professed and lived by, but also there was no motivation to fabricate.
4. The unique nature of the events and the nature of the testimony lend themselves to accurate observation and recall.
a. Their is no direct evidence that the witnesses’ capacity to observe was distorted.
b. The accounts are clear and lucid, giving an abundance of detail.
c. The accounts read like the testimony of one intimately acquainted with the facts of the issue, someone who was personally involved with the process, who was proximal to the events in question, and who had repeated opportunity to observe those events.
d. Matthew and John personally made visual identification of the risen Christ, an individual they had spent more than three years with in intimate, personal contact.
5. John and Matthew corroborate each other and are supported by other extraneous evidence.
a. Disproving the facts of the first witness is generally accomplished using the testimony of a second witness. When we compare the testimony of the eyewitnesses John and Matthew, however, we find that their accounts mesh.
b. Their accounts also coincide with the historical summaries given by Luke, the companion of Paul, and Mark, the Apostle Peter’s companion.
c. Since each one’s experience with Jesus was not the same, there are some differences, as you’d expect.
1) There is sufficient unanimity between the witnesses to demonstrate corroboration.
2) But there is sufficient variation in details and viewpoints in the accounts to eliminate the charge of collaboration.
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