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Voices of History: Speeches That Changed the World
Comprehensively updated with many new speeches including Earl Spencer's lament to 'The extraordinary and irreplaceable Diana', Nikita Khrushchev's secret speech of 1956 signalling the beginning of the end of Stalinist Russia, Patrick Pearse's rousing funeral oration that fanned the flames of the Easter Rising, Kevin Rudd's historic apology to Australia's mistreated Aborigines and Barack Obama's momentous US election night victory speech. Alongside these are the finest war cries of Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King's prophetic 'I have a dream' and 'I've seen the promised land' speeches, the inspiring words of JFK and impassioned pleas from Nelson Mandela - the first at his trial in 1964 and the second on his election as president of South Africa in 1994. In addition are historic speeches from Elizabeth I, Charles I, Oliver Cromwell, George Washington, Napoleon Bonaparte, Abraham Lincoln, Emmeline Pankhurst, Mahatma Gandhi, Vladimir Lenin, Neville Chamberlain, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Charles de Gaulle, General George S. Patton, J Robert Oppenheimer, Mao Zedong, Malcolm X, Richard M. Nixon, Pope John Paul II, Vaclav Havel, Elie Wiesel, Mikhail Gorbachev and many other great historical figures. Speeches that Changed the World presents over 50 momentous and thought-provoking speeches from throughout history. Complete with a potted biography of each speaker, and telling the story of why each oration was significant and what happened as a result, this is a gripping history of the world told through its greatest and most impassioned speeches.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
352 people are currently reading
4040 people want to read
About the author
Simon Sebag Montefiore
65 books3,233 followersSimon Sebag Montefiore is the author of the global bestsellers 'The Romanovs' and 'Jerusalem: the Biography,' 'Stalin: the Court of the Red Tsar' and Young Stalin and the novels Sashenka and One Night in Winter and "Red Sky at Noon." His books are published in 48 languages and are worldwide bestsellers. He has won prizes in both non-fiction and fiction. He read history at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University, where he received his Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD).
'The Romanovs' is his latest history book. He has now completed his Moscow Trilogy of novels featuring Benya Golden and Comrade Satinov, Sashenka, Dashka and Fabiana.... and Stalin himself.
Buy in the UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Night-Winter-...
"A thrilling work of fiction. Montefiore weaves a tight, satisfying plot, delivering surprises to the last page. Stalin's chilling charisma is brilliantly realised. The novel's theme is Love: family love, youthful romance, adulterous passion. One Night in Winter is full of redemptive love and inner freedom." Evening Standard
"Gripping and cleverly plotted. Doomed love at the heart of a violent society is the heart of Montefiore's One Night in Winter... depicting the Kafkaesque labyrinth into which the victims stumble." The Sunday Times
"Compulsively involving. Our fear for the children keeps up turning the pages... We follow the passions with sympathy... The knot of events tugs at a wide range of emotions rarely experienced outside an intimate tyranny." The Times
"The novel is hugely romantic. His ease with the setting and historical characters is masterly. The book maintains a tense pace. Uniquely terrifying. Heartrending. Engrossing. " The Scotsman
“Delicately plotted and buried within a layered, elliptical narrative, One Night in Winter is also a fidgety page-turner which adroitly weaves a huge cast of characters into an arcane world.” Time Out
“A novel full of passion, conspiracy, hope, despair, suffering and redemption, it transcends boundaries of genre, being at once thriller and political drama, horror and romance. His ability to paint Stalin in such a way to make the reader quake with fire is matched by talent for creating truly heartbreaking characters: the children who find themselves at the centre of a conspiracy, the parents…. A gripping read and must surely be one of the best novels of 2013. ” NY Journal of Books
"Not just a thumpingly good read, but also essentially a story of human fragility and passions, albeit taking place under the intimidating shadow of a massive Stalinist portico." The National
"Seriously good fun... the Soviet march on Berlin, nightmarish drinking games at Stalin's countryhouse, the magnificence of the Bolshoi, interrogations, snow, sex and exile... lust adultery and romance. Eminently readable and strangely affecting." Sunday Telegraph
" "Hopelessly romantic and hopelessly moving. A mix of lovestory thriller and historical fiction. Engrossing." The Observer
“Gripping. Montefiore’s characters snare our sympathy and we follow them avidly. This intricate at times disturbing, always absorbing novel entertains and disturbs and seethes with moral complexity. Characters real+fictitious ring strikingly true.It is to a large extent Tolstoyan …..” The Australian
“Enthralling. Montefiore writes brilliantly about Love - from teenage romance to the grand passion of adultery. Readers of Sebastian Faulks and Hilary Mantel will lap this up. A historical novel that builds into a nail-biting drama … a world that resembles… Edith Wharton with the death penalty.” Novel of
'The Romanovs' is his latest history book. He has now completed his Moscow Trilogy of novels featuring Benya Golden and Comrade Satinov, Sashenka, Dashka and Fabiana.... and Stalin himself.
Buy in the UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Night-Winter-...
"A thrilling work of fiction. Montefiore weaves a tight, satisfying plot, delivering surprises to the last page. Stalin's chilling charisma is brilliantly realised. The novel's theme is Love: family love, youthful romance, adulterous passion. One Night in Winter is full of redemptive love and inner freedom." Evening Standard
"Gripping and cleverly plotted. Doomed love at the heart of a violent society is the heart of Montefiore's One Night in Winter... depicting the Kafkaesque labyrinth into which the victims stumble." The Sunday Times
"Compulsively involving. Our fear for the children keeps up turning the pages... We follow the passions with sympathy... The knot of events tugs at a wide range of emotions rarely experienced outside an intimate tyranny." The Times
"The novel is hugely romantic. His ease with the setting and historical characters is masterly. The book maintains a tense pace. Uniquely terrifying. Heartrending. Engrossing. " The Scotsman
“Delicately plotted and buried within a layered, elliptical narrative, One Night in Winter is also a fidgety page-turner which adroitly weaves a huge cast of characters into an arcane world.” Time Out
“A novel full of passion, conspiracy, hope, despair, suffering and redemption, it transcends boundaries of genre, being at once thriller and political drama, horror and romance. His ability to paint Stalin in such a way to make the reader quake with fire is matched by talent for creating truly heartbreaking characters: the children who find themselves at the centre of a conspiracy, the parents…. A gripping read and must surely be one of the best novels of 2013. ” NY Journal of Books
"Not just a thumpingly good read, but also essentially a story of human fragility and passions, albeit taking place under the intimidating shadow of a massive Stalinist portico." The National
"Seriously good fun... the Soviet march on Berlin, nightmarish drinking games at Stalin's countryhouse, the magnificence of the Bolshoi, interrogations, snow, sex and exile... lust adultery and romance. Eminently readable and strangely affecting." Sunday Telegraph
" "Hopelessly romantic and hopelessly moving. A mix of lovestory thriller and historical fiction. Engrossing." The Observer
“Gripping. Montefiore’s characters snare our sympathy and we follow them avidly. This intricate at times disturbing, always absorbing novel entertains and disturbs and seethes with moral complexity. Characters real+fictitious ring strikingly true.It is to a large extent Tolstoyan …..” The Australian
“Enthralling. Montefiore writes brilliantly about Love - from teenage romance to the grand passion of adultery. Readers of Sebastian Faulks and Hilary Mantel will lap this up. A historical novel that builds into a nail-biting drama … a world that resembles… Edith Wharton with the death penalty.” Novel of
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 156 reviews
January 21, 2023
It is a book that must be read slowly, one speech at a time, so as to allow time for words to have their effect. Reading too many of these speeches one after the other does not allow you to do this, that is, to fully appreciate what the authors of these speeches wanted to tell us. It is a beautiful journey into the past, starting in 1945; speeches made by men and women who have left a great mark in the History with a capital H, for better or for worse. People able to touch the souls of their contemporaries and still able to touch ours too. How different they seem from the speeches we hear today from the people considered the greatest of the Earth .....
February 3, 2021
O carte care ne amintește cât de puternic este cuvântul și cât de mult s-a schimbat istoria lumii prin intermediul vorbelor rostite de lideri formali și informali. Cartea se vrea dorește a fi „politically corect”, încercând să aibă personaje cât mai diverse ca etnie, rasă, gen și religie. Apropo de religie, unii cu viziuni mai conservatoare ar putea fi contrariați de faptul că Iisus Hristos figurează cu predica sa de pe munte laolaltă cu personaje ca Margaret Thatcher, Martin Luther King, Obama sau Malala. Dar pentru mine este o recunoaștere a calității și forței oratorice a lui Iisus. Pentru cei interesați de arta discursului este foarte utilă această colecție diversă și cuprinzătoare de oratori cu influență.
De departe discursul meu preferat este cel al președintelui american Ronald Reagan din Berlinul de Est, în 1987, când rostește cuvintele "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" pe care le repetă pe parcursul unei pledoarii pentru demolarea Zidului Berlinului și reîntregirea Germaniei. Îmi imaginez un lider român aflat într-o funcție înaltă în stat care să vorbească în aceeași termeni despre granița nedreaptă de pe Prut și despre necesitatea reîntregirii României prin unirea cu Republica Moldova.
De departe discursul meu preferat este cel al președintelui american Ronald Reagan din Berlinul de Est, în 1987, când rostește cuvintele "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" pe care le repetă pe parcursul unei pledoarii pentru demolarea Zidului Berlinului și reîntregirea Germaniei. Îmi imaginez un lider român aflat într-o funcție înaltă în stat care să vorbească în aceeași termeni despre granița nedreaptă de pe Prut și despre necesitatea reîntregirii României prin unirea cu Republica Moldova.
June 22, 2021
This is a great book that came with a very good free CD. Best taken in small doses. Ten minutes here, ten minutes there. Take in too much hot air at a single sitting and you run the risk of over-inflation. I can see some people taking this with them to the toilet for some reason. Personally I've never spent long enough in the toilet unoccupied to require the presence of a book but it really does take all sorts.
Churchill, Kennedy and Mandella are hard to beat. But villains like Hitler and Stalin, and complex characters like Nixon and de Klerk are just as interesting. Lots of women included too, of course. Mother Teresea and Marie Curie were wonderful, and Queen Elizabeth I was always a crowd pleaser. But where oh where is Margaret Thatcher?! Love her or hate her, there is no denying she was one of the most important women in world history. I seem to remember her giving an incredibly rousing speech after narrowly surviving the Brighton Conference bombing.
Churchill, Kennedy and Mandella are hard to beat. But villains like Hitler and Stalin, and complex characters like Nixon and de Klerk are just as interesting. Lots of women included too, of course. Mother Teresea and Marie Curie were wonderful, and Queen Elizabeth I was always a crowd pleaser. But where oh where is Margaret Thatcher?! Love her or hate her, there is no denying she was one of the most important women in world history. I seem to remember her giving an incredibly rousing speech after narrowly surviving the Brighton Conference bombing.
December 21, 2019
My initial reaction to this book was it was not properly titled. I think a better title would have been ‘Pieces of my Favorite Speeches.’ The speeches are taken from various people throughout history from Jesus to President Barack Obama. Each speech is preceded by a mini-biography. The historical and world changing aspects of each speech are up to some debate. The speeches are not always presented whole, but edited for space and in some cases outright mutilated. There were some I found fascinating such as Pierre Trudeau’s speech during Quebec separatist crisis. (For the record, I think there is no movement more ridiculous the Quebec sovereignty movement.) I thought the choice of speeches for General Patton was sad. If you are going to choose one speech from General Patton, why would you choose one without his most famous line*?
In addition, there is a video that goes with this, however it is more of a history of world from 1933-2009 than a collection of speeches. It is a poor reinforcement for the book.
*"No bastard ever won a war dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country."
In addition, there is a video that goes with this, however it is more of a history of world from 1933-2009 than a collection of speeches. It is a poor reinforcement for the book.
*"No bastard ever won a war dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country."
September 19, 2020
Tai nėra knyga, kurią reikėtų skaityti greitai. Kaip tik, daug daugiau konteksto galvoje susideda, kai leidi sau rinkti po vieną ar kelias to paties dešimtmečio kalbas, detaliau analizuoji, kas gi vyko tuo metu pasaulyje ir kokius atgarsius (galbūt) kai kurie priimti sprendimai turi šiandienai. Man patiko praleisti šiek tiek laiko su vienais iškiliausių mūsų pasaulio protų :)
June 9, 2022
Тази книга е едно малко бижу, което има място във всяка къща. За хората, чиито думи са отпечатани тук (на места обаче със съкращения) сме чували, учили, но рядко имаме възможност така непосредствено да се докоснем до тях. Понякога това е смиряващо, друг път вдъхновяващо, но често е и смразяващо. Причините да дам само три звезди са точно две. Първата - заглавието е подвеждащо. Определено част от речите или по-скоро репликите, не са променили света. За пример мога да дам изказването на Чингис Хан, кратката, евентуално предсмъртна, реплика на Клеопатра, брътвежите на Нерон. Това са по-скоро речи, които авторът харесва или смята за достатъчно любопитни и показателни, за да ги включи в книгата си. Втората причина - в предговора към всяка реч, освен кратки и полезни биографични бележки, изобилства от лично отношение и мнение. На места дори са залепени етикети към хората, чиито слова предстои да прочетем, а това никога не е добре. Обективността е изключително важна за мен, когато става дума за документалистика. Аз съм от поколение, на което се налагаше да чете доста предговори със съмнително качество, да наизустява какво трябва да мисли за дадено произведение или личност и съм свикнала да прецеждам добре подобни вметки. Лесно разпознавам внушенията от чистите факти, но пиша това като предупреждение за читателите, които тепърва се сблъскват с подобни предговори, анализи и изобщо с подобен подход.
April 1, 2020
Текстът на някои речи на известни хора, които авторът е подбрал като "променили света", заедно с кратко описание на личностите и събитията, които са довели до тяхното произнасяне.
Подборката е средна работа, някои от речите наистина са много силни и с безспорна важност, други - не чак толкова.
Трябва да се признае, че авторът се опитва да ни представи хора и речи, които са променили света както за добро, така и за лошо. В книгата присъстват както Нелсън Мандела и Чърчил, така и Сталин и Хитлер.
Подборката е средна работа, някои от речите наистина са много силни и с безспорна важност, други - не чак толкова.
Трябва да се признае, че авторът се опитва да ни представи хора и речи, които са променили света както за добро, така и за лошо. В книгата присъстват както Нелсън Мандела и Чърчил, така и Сталин и Хитлер.
December 9, 2018
Objective Summary
This book identifies 55 speeches from 48 orators that “changed the world.” Each section has one or two pages of background leading up to the speech, then two or three pages of excerpts from the speech. Here are the speeches:
1. Moses "Though shalt have no other gods before me." The Ten Commandments, Exodus 20, 1-17
2. Jesus of Nazareth "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7
3. Mohammed "Turn your face towards the Sacred Mosque." Koran 2, 144-145, 145-50
4. St Francis of Assisi "My little sisters, the birds, much bounden are ye unto God." Sermon to the birds, c. 1220
5. Queen Elizabeth I "I have the heart and stomach of a king." Speech to the English troops at Tilbury, 1588
6. King Charles I "I go from a corruptible to an incorruptible crown." Speech on the scaffold, 30 Jan 1649
7. Oliver Cromwell "In the name of God, go!" Dismisses the Rump Parliament, 20 April 1653
8. George Washington "A passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils." Farewell address, 7 September 1796
9. Thomas Jefferson "We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists." Inaugural address, 4 March 1801
10. Napoleon Bonaparte "Soldiers of my Old Guard: I bid you farewell." Farewell to the Old Guard, 20 April 1814
11. Abraham Lincoln "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation..." The Gettysburg Address, 19 November 1863
12. Emmeline Pankhurst "I am here as a soldier who has temporarily left the field of battle." Speech on women's suffrage, 13 November 1913
13. Marie Curie "The scientific history of radium is beautiful." On the discovery of radium, 14 May 1921
14. Mohandas Gandhi "There is no salvation for India." 4 February 1916
15. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin "Power to the Soviets." September 1917
16. Woodrow Wilson "The world must be safe for democracy." Speech to Congress, 2 April 1917
17. Clarence Darrow "I believe in the law of love." Closing speech in defence of Henry Sweet, April 1926
18. Neville Chamberlain "Peace for our time." London, 30 September 1938
19. Adolf Hitler "My patience is now at an end." Speech at the Sportpalast, Berlin, 26 September 1938
20. Adolf Hitler "I am from now on just first soldier of the German Reich." Speech at the Reichstag, Berlin, 1 September 1939
21. Joseph Stalin "It is essential that the war continue for as long as possible." Speech to the Politburo, 19 August 1939
22. Winston Churchill "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat." House of Commons, London, 13 May 1940
23. Winston Churchill "This was their finest hour." House of Commons, London, 18 June 1940
24. Winston Churchill "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." House of Commons, London, 20 August 1940
25. Vyacheslav Molotov "Perfidy unparalleled in the history of civilized nations." On the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, 22 June 1941
26. Franklin D. Roosevelt "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Inaugural address, 4 March 1933
27. Franklin D. Roosevelt "A date which will live in infamy." Speech to Congress, 8 December 1941
28. Charles de Gaulle "The flame of French resistance must not and shall not die." Appeal of 18 June 1940
29. General George S. Patton, Jr "I am personally going to shoot that paper-hanging sonofabitch Hitler." Speech on the eve of D-Day, 5 June 1944
30. Emperor Hirohito "The enemy has begun to deploy a new and most cruel bomb." The surrender of Japan, August 1945
31. Jawaharial Nehru "At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom." Speech on the granting of independence, 4 August 1947
32. J. Robert Oppenheimer "The reason that we did this job is because it was an organic necessity." Los Alamos, Mexico, 2 November 1945
33. General Douglas MacArthur "I have just left your fighting sons in Korea. ... They are splendid in every way." Farewell speech to Congress, 19 April 1951
34. Nelson Mandela "I am the First Accused." 20 April 1964
35. Nelson Mandela "Free at last." 2 May 1994
36. Eamon de Valera "These were all good men." The fiftieth anniversary of the Easter Rising, 10 April 1966
37. John F. Kennedy "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." Inaugural address, 20 January 1961
38. John F. Kennedy "Ich bin ein Berliner." At the Berlin Wall, 26 June 1963
39. Martin Luther King Jr "I have a dream." Lincoln Memorial, Washington, 28 August 1963
40. Martin Luther King Jr "I've seen the promised land." Memphis, Tennessee, 3 April 1968
41. Malcolm X "You can't hate the roots of a tree, and not hate the tree." 14 February 1965
42. Shirley Chisholm "I have been fart oftener discriminated against because I am a woman than because I am black." Speech to Congress, 21 May 1969
43. Pierre Trudeau "Who are the kidnap victims?" National broadcast, 16 October 1970
44. Golda Meir "Stop the killing." Address to the Knesset, 26 May 1970
45. Richard M. Nixon "There can be no whitewash at the White House." Address to the nation, 30 April 1973
46. Indira Gandhi "Women's education is almost more important than the education of boys and men." 23 November 1974
47. Chaim Herzog "Hate, ignorance and evil." Address to UN General Assembly, 10 November 1975
48. Mother Teresa "Love begins at home." Speech on receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, 11 December 1979
49. Pope John Paul II "Our Polish freedom costs so much." Speech at Jasna Gora monastery, Poland, 18 June 1983
50. Ronald Reagan "Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Speech at the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, 12 June 1987
51. Mikail Gorbachev "Freedom of choice is a universal principle to which there should be no exceptions." Address to UN General Assembly, 7 December 1988
52. F. W. de kierk "The time for negotiation has arrived." Speech at the opening of Parliament, 2 February 1990
53. Vaclav Havel "We live in a contaminated moral environment." Broadcast to the people of Czechoslovakia, 1 January 1990
54. Elie Wiesel "The perils of indifference." Seventh White House Millennium Evening, 12 April 1999
55. George W. Bush "A great people has been moved to defend a great nation." Address to the nation, 11 September 2001
Subjective Thoughts
The excerpts from the selected speeches in this book were educational. My personal favorites were from Winston Churchill and George Patton. The gravity of their moments (committing to war against Germany and preparing for D-Day), their convictions in their beliefs (Britain and the U.S. are morally righteous and Nazis are evil), and the brevity and clarity of their words combined into powerfully persuasive speeches. Churchill’s line about how his policy “is to wage war by land, sea, and air” gives me chills. War is a last resort. They had reached it. The only play was to acknowledge the state of affairs and act accordingly. There would be heavy losses, but there were no other choices. Churchill urged his people to meet the threat with resolve. And they did. Patton faced an identical situation, though the threat he addressed was perhaps even more immediate. He approached it with both resolve and humor. I couldn’t help but laugh and agree with his description of how men and Americans ought to behave. In a word, both Churchill and Patton were effective.
Emotional speeches can stir people to action, clearly. But I think reason and principles must guide policy. Mere emotional power says nothing about the underlying accuracy, efficacy, or morality of an espoused position. People were burned as witches and for heresy based on alleged affronts to nature and to God. Hitler emotionally appealed to his people. FDR vastly expanded the size and scope of the federal government in ways that I think harmed the economy in both the short and long run. There is an emotional appeal animating socialism and communism for which people woefully ignorant of economics and history fall. The thin line between an orator speaking truth to power and a con man makes me skeptical of emotional appeals.
I also wonder if stirring speeches can survive modernity, or post-modernity, with its moral relativism and obliteration of distinctions between right and wrong. Issues like immigration, climate change, and healthcare strike me as much more economic than moral. Solving these challenges entails balancing competing virtues and priorities (mercy versus justice, near term economic growth versus long term sustainability, and proper resource allocation). These are not battles between obvious good versus obvious evil. International trade disputes and intellectual property theft need to be addressed, but not with the same urgency as the gulag or Buchenwald. Calling everyone who opposes immigration, alleged “solutions” to climate change, and government-run healthcare a “Nazi” simply devalues the term. Referring to those who question transgender ideology as “fascists” signals the speakers’ ignorance, not their moral superiority. Pretending that people who acknowledge that men are men and women are women are the same as Nazis just demonstrates that their must not be many Nazis left. Pretending that people who wear costumes at Halloween are “racists” just discloses that there must not be many racists left. A perpetually moving goalpost is a tacit admission of great progress.
Perhaps the closest things to Nazis in modern times are Islamofascists. They will kill you for saying the wrong thing, drawing the wrong picture, or failing to follow their arbitrary and asinine orders. But numerically, as far as I know, they are not on par with the damage done by communism in the 20th century. And, hopefully, they are still salvageable. Perhaps a stirring speech from an eloquent orator can one day convince followers of Allah not to behead those who refuse to pretend the Koran contains moral wisdom. Such a speech would require an unalloyed acknowledgment that murdering others because of 7th Century Arabic fairy tales is wrong. Such a speaker would have to ignore an army of dangerous fools and knaves.
On a less serious note, even the short excerpts in this book reveal to me that these historic figures—strongly admired, at least in my mind—are merely human. They are not perfect, and their key turns of phrase are almost always buried in otherwise lengthy, mundane, or boring verbiage. “Tear down this wall” has an onomatopoeic quality to it (in that the four single-syllable words sound like someone hammering against a wall) that works well. But it was surrounded by other, more pedestrian passages. “Blood, toil, tears, and sweat” has one too many terms and is condensed into “blood, sweat, and tears.” Once again, we are reminded simply that perfection is unattainable, and the perfect is the enemy of the good. Keep calm, and carry on.
Revealing Quotes
“[W]hat more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow-citizens—a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labour the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.” – Thomas Jefferson
“[I]t is proper you should understand what I deem the essential principles of our Government, and consequently those which ought to shape its Administration. I will compress them within the narrowest compass they will bear, stating the general principle, but not all its limitations. Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies; the preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of election by the people—a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of revolution where peaceable remedies are unprovided; absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority, the vital principle of republics, from which is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism; a well-disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace and for the first moments of war till regulars may relieve them; the supremacy of the civil over the military authority; economy in the public expense, that labor may be lightly burthened; the honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith; encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid; the diffusion of information and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason; freedom of religion; freedom of the press, and freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus, and trial by juries impartially selected.” – Thomas Jefferson
“Through reading Thoreau, Tolstoy, the New Testament and the Hindu scriptures, Gandhi developed a creed of non-violent resistance known as satyagraha (‘steadfastness in truth’).”
“I say to the House as I said to ministers 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 months of struggle and suffering.
You ask, what is our policy? I say it is to wage war by land, sea, and air. War with all our might and with all the strength God has given us, and to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark and 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 terrors—victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.” – Winston Churchill
“You can’t run an army without profanity; and it has to be eloquent profanity.” – George Patton
“You are here today for three reasons. First, because you are here to defend your homes and your loved ones. Second, you are here for your own self-respect, because you would not want to be anywhere else. Third, you are here because you are real men and all real men like to fight. . . . Americans love a winner. Americans will not tolerate a loser. Americans despise cowards. Americans play to win all the time. I wouldn’t give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That’s why Americans have never lost nor will ever lose a war; for the very idea of losing is hateful to an American. . . .
The real hero is the man who fights even though he is scared. Some men get over their fright in a minute under fire. For some, it takes an hour. For some, it takes days. But a real man will never let his fear of death overpower his honor, his sense of duty to his country, and his innate manhood.
Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best and removes all that is base. Americans pride themselves on being He Men and they ARE He Men. Remember that the enemy is just as frightened as you are, and probably more so. They are not supermen. . . .
Sure, we want to go home. We want this war over with. The quickest way to get it over with is to go get the bastards who started it. The quicker they are whipped, the quicker we can go home. The shortest way home is through Berlin and Tokyo. And when we get to Berlin, I am personally going to shoot that paperhanging sonofabitch Hitler.” – George Patton to soldiers of the U.S. Third Army on the eve of D-Day
“We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita . . . ‘Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.’” – Robert Oppenheimer after the first atomic bomb exploded in Alamogordo, New Mexico on 16 July 1945.
“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty.” – John F. Kennedy
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. . . .
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“You can’t hate your origin and not end up hating yourself.” – Malcolm X
“The unspoken assumption is that women are different. They do not have executive ability, orderly minds, stability, leadership skills, and they are too emotional.” – Shirley Chisholm
“As a black person, I am no stranger to race prejudice. But the truth is that in the political world I have been far oftener discriminated against because I am a woman than because I am black.” – Shirley Chisholm
“Today the greatest means—the greatest destroyer of peace is abortion.” – Mother Teresa
“[T]he family that prays together stays together.” – Mother Teresa
“In the 1950s, Khrushchev predicted: ‘We will bury you.’ But in the West today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being unprecedented in all human history. In the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards of health, even want of the most basic kind—too little food. Even today, the Soviet Union still cannot feed itself. After these four decades, then, there stands before the entire world one great and inescapable conclusion: Freedom leads to prosperity. Freedom replaces the ancient hatreds among the nations with comity and peace. Freedom is the victor. . . .
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!” – Ronald Reagan
“We live in a contaminated moral environment. We fell morally ill because we became used to saying something different from what we thought. We learned not to believe in anything, to ignore each other, to care only about ourselves.” – Vaclav Havel
This book identifies 55 speeches from 48 orators that “changed the world.” Each section has one or two pages of background leading up to the speech, then two or three pages of excerpts from the speech. Here are the speeches:
1. Moses "Though shalt have no other gods before me." The Ten Commandments, Exodus 20, 1-17
2. Jesus of Nazareth "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7
3. Mohammed "Turn your face towards the Sacred Mosque." Koran 2, 144-145, 145-50
4. St Francis of Assisi "My little sisters, the birds, much bounden are ye unto God." Sermon to the birds, c. 1220
5. Queen Elizabeth I "I have the heart and stomach of a king." Speech to the English troops at Tilbury, 1588
6. King Charles I "I go from a corruptible to an incorruptible crown." Speech on the scaffold, 30 Jan 1649
7. Oliver Cromwell "In the name of God, go!" Dismisses the Rump Parliament, 20 April 1653
8. George Washington "A passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils." Farewell address, 7 September 1796
9. Thomas Jefferson "We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists." Inaugural address, 4 March 1801
10. Napoleon Bonaparte "Soldiers of my Old Guard: I bid you farewell." Farewell to the Old Guard, 20 April 1814
11. Abraham Lincoln "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation..." The Gettysburg Address, 19 November 1863
12. Emmeline Pankhurst "I am here as a soldier who has temporarily left the field of battle." Speech on women's suffrage, 13 November 1913
13. Marie Curie "The scientific history of radium is beautiful." On the discovery of radium, 14 May 1921
14. Mohandas Gandhi "There is no salvation for India." 4 February 1916
15. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin "Power to the Soviets." September 1917
16. Woodrow Wilson "The world must be safe for democracy." Speech to Congress, 2 April 1917
17. Clarence Darrow "I believe in the law of love." Closing speech in defence of Henry Sweet, April 1926
18. Neville Chamberlain "Peace for our time." London, 30 September 1938
19. Adolf Hitler "My patience is now at an end." Speech at the Sportpalast, Berlin, 26 September 1938
20. Adolf Hitler "I am from now on just first soldier of the German Reich." Speech at the Reichstag, Berlin, 1 September 1939
21. Joseph Stalin "It is essential that the war continue for as long as possible." Speech to the Politburo, 19 August 1939
22. Winston Churchill "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat." House of Commons, London, 13 May 1940
23. Winston Churchill "This was their finest hour." House of Commons, London, 18 June 1940
24. Winston Churchill "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." House of Commons, London, 20 August 1940
25. Vyacheslav Molotov "Perfidy unparalleled in the history of civilized nations." On the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, 22 June 1941
26. Franklin D. Roosevelt "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Inaugural address, 4 March 1933
27. Franklin D. Roosevelt "A date which will live in infamy." Speech to Congress, 8 December 1941
28. Charles de Gaulle "The flame of French resistance must not and shall not die." Appeal of 18 June 1940
29. General George S. Patton, Jr "I am personally going to shoot that paper-hanging sonofabitch Hitler." Speech on the eve of D-Day, 5 June 1944
30. Emperor Hirohito "The enemy has begun to deploy a new and most cruel bomb." The surrender of Japan, August 1945
31. Jawaharial Nehru "At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom." Speech on the granting of independence, 4 August 1947
32. J. Robert Oppenheimer "The reason that we did this job is because it was an organic necessity." Los Alamos, Mexico, 2 November 1945
33. General Douglas MacArthur "I have just left your fighting sons in Korea. ... They are splendid in every way." Farewell speech to Congress, 19 April 1951
34. Nelson Mandela "I am the First Accused." 20 April 1964
35. Nelson Mandela "Free at last." 2 May 1994
36. Eamon de Valera "These were all good men." The fiftieth anniversary of the Easter Rising, 10 April 1966
37. John F. Kennedy "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." Inaugural address, 20 January 1961
38. John F. Kennedy "Ich bin ein Berliner." At the Berlin Wall, 26 June 1963
39. Martin Luther King Jr "I have a dream." Lincoln Memorial, Washington, 28 August 1963
40. Martin Luther King Jr "I've seen the promised land." Memphis, Tennessee, 3 April 1968
41. Malcolm X "You can't hate the roots of a tree, and not hate the tree." 14 February 1965
42. Shirley Chisholm "I have been fart oftener discriminated against because I am a woman than because I am black." Speech to Congress, 21 May 1969
43. Pierre Trudeau "Who are the kidnap victims?" National broadcast, 16 October 1970
44. Golda Meir "Stop the killing." Address to the Knesset, 26 May 1970
45. Richard M. Nixon "There can be no whitewash at the White House." Address to the nation, 30 April 1973
46. Indira Gandhi "Women's education is almost more important than the education of boys and men." 23 November 1974
47. Chaim Herzog "Hate, ignorance and evil." Address to UN General Assembly, 10 November 1975
48. Mother Teresa "Love begins at home." Speech on receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, 11 December 1979
49. Pope John Paul II "Our Polish freedom costs so much." Speech at Jasna Gora monastery, Poland, 18 June 1983
50. Ronald Reagan "Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Speech at the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, 12 June 1987
51. Mikail Gorbachev "Freedom of choice is a universal principle to which there should be no exceptions." Address to UN General Assembly, 7 December 1988
52. F. W. de kierk "The time for negotiation has arrived." Speech at the opening of Parliament, 2 February 1990
53. Vaclav Havel "We live in a contaminated moral environment." Broadcast to the people of Czechoslovakia, 1 January 1990
54. Elie Wiesel "The perils of indifference." Seventh White House Millennium Evening, 12 April 1999
55. George W. Bush "A great people has been moved to defend a great nation." Address to the nation, 11 September 2001
Subjective Thoughts
The excerpts from the selected speeches in this book were educational. My personal favorites were from Winston Churchill and George Patton. The gravity of their moments (committing to war against Germany and preparing for D-Day), their convictions in their beliefs (Britain and the U.S. are morally righteous and Nazis are evil), and the brevity and clarity of their words combined into powerfully persuasive speeches. Churchill’s line about how his policy “is to wage war by land, sea, and air” gives me chills. War is a last resort. They had reached it. The only play was to acknowledge the state of affairs and act accordingly. There would be heavy losses, but there were no other choices. Churchill urged his people to meet the threat with resolve. And they did. Patton faced an identical situation, though the threat he addressed was perhaps even more immediate. He approached it with both resolve and humor. I couldn’t help but laugh and agree with his description of how men and Americans ought to behave. In a word, both Churchill and Patton were effective.
Emotional speeches can stir people to action, clearly. But I think reason and principles must guide policy. Mere emotional power says nothing about the underlying accuracy, efficacy, or morality of an espoused position. People were burned as witches and for heresy based on alleged affronts to nature and to God. Hitler emotionally appealed to his people. FDR vastly expanded the size and scope of the federal government in ways that I think harmed the economy in both the short and long run. There is an emotional appeal animating socialism and communism for which people woefully ignorant of economics and history fall. The thin line between an orator speaking truth to power and a con man makes me skeptical of emotional appeals.
I also wonder if stirring speeches can survive modernity, or post-modernity, with its moral relativism and obliteration of distinctions between right and wrong. Issues like immigration, climate change, and healthcare strike me as much more economic than moral. Solving these challenges entails balancing competing virtues and priorities (mercy versus justice, near term economic growth versus long term sustainability, and proper resource allocation). These are not battles between obvious good versus obvious evil. International trade disputes and intellectual property theft need to be addressed, but not with the same urgency as the gulag or Buchenwald. Calling everyone who opposes immigration, alleged “solutions” to climate change, and government-run healthcare a “Nazi” simply devalues the term. Referring to those who question transgender ideology as “fascists” signals the speakers’ ignorance, not their moral superiority. Pretending that people who acknowledge that men are men and women are women are the same as Nazis just demonstrates that their must not be many Nazis left. Pretending that people who wear costumes at Halloween are “racists” just discloses that there must not be many racists left. A perpetually moving goalpost is a tacit admission of great progress.
Perhaps the closest things to Nazis in modern times are Islamofascists. They will kill you for saying the wrong thing, drawing the wrong picture, or failing to follow their arbitrary and asinine orders. But numerically, as far as I know, they are not on par with the damage done by communism in the 20th century. And, hopefully, they are still salvageable. Perhaps a stirring speech from an eloquent orator can one day convince followers of Allah not to behead those who refuse to pretend the Koran contains moral wisdom. Such a speech would require an unalloyed acknowledgment that murdering others because of 7th Century Arabic fairy tales is wrong. Such a speaker would have to ignore an army of dangerous fools and knaves.
On a less serious note, even the short excerpts in this book reveal to me that these historic figures—strongly admired, at least in my mind—are merely human. They are not perfect, and their key turns of phrase are almost always buried in otherwise lengthy, mundane, or boring verbiage. “Tear down this wall” has an onomatopoeic quality to it (in that the four single-syllable words sound like someone hammering against a wall) that works well. But it was surrounded by other, more pedestrian passages. “Blood, toil, tears, and sweat” has one too many terms and is condensed into “blood, sweat, and tears.” Once again, we are reminded simply that perfection is unattainable, and the perfect is the enemy of the good. Keep calm, and carry on.
Revealing Quotes
“[W]hat more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow-citizens—a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labour the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.” – Thomas Jefferson
“[I]t is proper you should understand what I deem the essential principles of our Government, and consequently those which ought to shape its Administration. I will compress them within the narrowest compass they will bear, stating the general principle, but not all its limitations. Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies; the preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of election by the people—a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of revolution where peaceable remedies are unprovided; absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority, the vital principle of republics, from which is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism; a well-disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace and for the first moments of war till regulars may relieve them; the supremacy of the civil over the military authority; economy in the public expense, that labor may be lightly burthened; the honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith; encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid; the diffusion of information and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason; freedom of religion; freedom of the press, and freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus, and trial by juries impartially selected.” – Thomas Jefferson
“Through reading Thoreau, Tolstoy, the New Testament and the Hindu scriptures, Gandhi developed a creed of non-violent resistance known as satyagraha (‘steadfastness in truth’).”
“I say to the House as I said to ministers 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 months of struggle and suffering.
You ask, what is our policy? I say it is to wage war by land, sea, and air. War with all our might and with all the strength God has given us, and to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark and 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 terrors—victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.” – Winston Churchill
“You can’t run an army without profanity; and it has to be eloquent profanity.” – George Patton
“You are here today for three reasons. First, because you are here to defend your homes and your loved ones. Second, you are here for your own self-respect, because you would not want to be anywhere else. Third, you are here because you are real men and all real men like to fight. . . . Americans love a winner. Americans will not tolerate a loser. Americans despise cowards. Americans play to win all the time. I wouldn’t give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That’s why Americans have never lost nor will ever lose a war; for the very idea of losing is hateful to an American. . . .
The real hero is the man who fights even though he is scared. Some men get over their fright in a minute under fire. For some, it takes an hour. For some, it takes days. But a real man will never let his fear of death overpower his honor, his sense of duty to his country, and his innate manhood.
Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best and removes all that is base. Americans pride themselves on being He Men and they ARE He Men. Remember that the enemy is just as frightened as you are, and probably more so. They are not supermen. . . .
Sure, we want to go home. We want this war over with. The quickest way to get it over with is to go get the bastards who started it. The quicker they are whipped, the quicker we can go home. The shortest way home is through Berlin and Tokyo. And when we get to Berlin, I am personally going to shoot that paperhanging sonofabitch Hitler.” – George Patton to soldiers of the U.S. Third Army on the eve of D-Day
“We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita . . . ‘Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.’” – Robert Oppenheimer after the first atomic bomb exploded in Alamogordo, New Mexico on 16 July 1945.
“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty.” – John F. Kennedy
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. . . .
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“You can’t hate your origin and not end up hating yourself.” – Malcolm X
“The unspoken assumption is that women are different. They do not have executive ability, orderly minds, stability, leadership skills, and they are too emotional.” – Shirley Chisholm
“As a black person, I am no stranger to race prejudice. But the truth is that in the political world I have been far oftener discriminated against because I am a woman than because I am black.” – Shirley Chisholm
“Today the greatest means—the greatest destroyer of peace is abortion.” – Mother Teresa
“[T]he family that prays together stays together.” – Mother Teresa
“In the 1950s, Khrushchev predicted: ‘We will bury you.’ But in the West today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being unprecedented in all human history. In the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards of health, even want of the most basic kind—too little food. Even today, the Soviet Union still cannot feed itself. After these four decades, then, there stands before the entire world one great and inescapable conclusion: Freedom leads to prosperity. Freedom replaces the ancient hatreds among the nations with comity and peace. Freedom is the victor. . . .
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!” – Ronald Reagan
“We live in a contaminated moral environment. We fell morally ill because we became used to saying something different from what we thought. We learned not to believe in anything, to ignore each other, to care only about ourselves.” – Vaclav Havel
May 15, 2022
Tarihte yeri olan önemli kişilerin yapmış olduğu konuşmaları o dönemle ilgili kısa bilgiler vererek, dönemin havasını hafifçe koklatarak, konuşmacının biyografisinin kısa bir özetini de sunan genel olarak iyi hazırlanmış sayılabilecek kitap. Konuşması seçilen kişilerde Amerika' ya çok fazla torpil yapılmış bütün başkanlar var nerdeyse, bir kısmının konuşmasında hiçbir espri yok niye konmuş anlamak zor. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk 'ün olmaması büyük eksiklik, kesinlikle olması lazımdı.
Çok garip, yapılan konuşmalar çok çok eskilere ait değil en fazla 100-150 yıl öncesine ait ve işin kötüsü hala aynı yerde olmamız ve bir çok şeyi hala aşamamamız, değiştirememiz. Irkçılık ve cinsiyetçilik sanki asırlar önceymiş gibi geliyor ancak bunların hepsi dün kadar yakın. Bu bakımdan bunları okumak tarihi öneme sahip olmakla beraber yarattığı farkındalık olarak çok da üzücü.
Daha detaylı olarak hazırlanmış olsa çok daha verimli olacak kitap. Yine de dünyanın gelişimini, nerden nereye geldiğimizi anlamak için ve aslında hiçbir yol katedemediğimizi görmek açısından önemli bir kitap olmuş.
December 5, 2020
211psl. ,,Ne valdžia gadina, o baimė.
Baimė prarasti valdžią gadina tuos, kurie ją turi, o valdžios bizūno baimė gadin tuos, kurie jai paklūsta." Aung San Suu Kdži
297psl. ,,<...> didybė ateina ne tada, kai viskas klojasi, didybė ateina ir jūs išties esate išbandomas tada, kai patiriate kokį nors smūgį, kokį nors nusivylimą, kai apninka liūdesys, nes tik tada, kai pabuvai giliausiame slėnyje, gali suprasti, kaip nuostabu yra užkopti ant aukščiausio kalno."
297psl. ,,<...> kiti gali jūsų nekęsti, bet tie, kurie jūsų nekenčia, nelaimės, nebent ir jūs jų nekęsite, tada save sunaikinsite.' Richardas Nixonas
Baimė prarasti valdžią gadina tuos, kurie ją turi, o valdžios bizūno baimė gadin tuos, kurie jai paklūsta." Aung San Suu Kdži
297psl. ,,<...> didybė ateina ne tada, kai viskas klojasi, didybė ateina ir jūs išties esate išbandomas tada, kai patiriate kokį nors smūgį, kokį nors nusivylimą, kai apninka liūdesys, nes tik tada, kai pabuvai giliausiame slėnyje, gali suprasti, kaip nuostabu yra užkopti ant aukščiausio kalno."
297psl. ,,<...> kiti gali jūsų nekęsti, bet tie, kurie jūsų nekenčia, nelaimės, nebent ir jūs jų nekęsite, tada save sunaikinsite.' Richardas Nixonas
November 20, 2021
As others have remarked, the title isn't quite right. Many of these speeches changed the world only in the most minimal ways (say, the address of British army officer to his battalion before the invasion of Iraq), others can't even be called speeches (like Cleopatra's one-sentence reply to Octavian, "I will not be led in a triumph", or a number of one-sentence quotes that Nero uttered during his attempted flight before he committed suicide). The selection, thus, is more of a "Voices of History: Speeches that Are Famous or Whose Speakers Are Famous, Particularly if They Have Been Given Recently".
The short contextualizations of the speeches/mini-biographies of the speakers follow Sebag Montefiore's penchant for drama and his unease for quick, revolutionary change: Listening to him, you'd get the idea that there is a direct line from the French Revolution - an event of terror - to the Russian Revolution - more terror, and ideology! - to Nazi Germany: The French Revolution was Robespierre, and within him were, like Russian dolls, Stalin and and Hitler. (The introduction on Evita Perón's speech claiming that her husband Juan Perón had fused nationalism and socialism, inspired by the Nazis, is just the cherry on top of Sebag Montefiore's great claim that everything outside of liberal-conservative democracy is essentially the same: While Perón did admire fascism (and harbored many German Nazi criminals after the war), and while his economic policy did rely on nationalization, backed by the workers and the unions, that's not a natural fit, but a contradiction, given the violent anti-socialism and anti-unionism of both the Italian fascists and the Nazis).
The selection of speeches has an extreme Anglo-American bias. I counted for the first ~30 speeches and they are pretty neatly divided in thirds of British, American, and other orators. I understand why that would be (the editor is British, and his audience English-speaking), but still it'd have been nice to go a bit more diverse. The entirety of East Asia is represented by one speech each of Genghis Khan, Mao, and Xi Jinping. Sub-Saharan Africa must content itself with a single speech by Nelson Mandela. So, East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa combined get as many speeches as Winston Churchill alone.
Also, Sebag Montefiore's recency bias makes him eschew the best orators of antiquity: As wild as that may sound, there is neither Pericles's funeral oration nor Demosthenes's Philippics nor Cicero's invectives against Catiline or Antony in the book.
These quibbles with the editor aside, the selection is mostly interesting, and the audio book production I listened to is of excellent quality with a variety of narrators. (I recommend listening to the speeches, as they were intended to, instead of reading them.)
Most importantly: Many of the speeches are good. Here are my personal favorites (named as they are in the book):
5. Winston Churchill, Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat
4. Alexander the Great, You Have Alexander
3. Susan B. Anthony, Are Women Persons?
2. Sojourner Truth, Ain't I a Woman?
1. Martin Luther King, I Have a Dream
The short contextualizations of the speeches/mini-biographies of the speakers follow Sebag Montefiore's penchant for drama and his unease for quick, revolutionary change: Listening to him, you'd get the idea that there is a direct line from the French Revolution - an event of terror - to the Russian Revolution - more terror, and ideology! - to Nazi Germany: The French Revolution was Robespierre, and within him were, like Russian dolls, Stalin and and Hitler. (The introduction on Evita Perón's speech claiming that her husband Juan Perón had fused nationalism and socialism, inspired by the Nazis, is just the cherry on top of Sebag Montefiore's great claim that everything outside of liberal-conservative democracy is essentially the same: While Perón did admire fascism (and harbored many German Nazi criminals after the war), and while his economic policy did rely on nationalization, backed by the workers and the unions, that's not a natural fit, but a contradiction, given the violent anti-socialism and anti-unionism of both the Italian fascists and the Nazis).
The selection of speeches has an extreme Anglo-American bias. I counted for the first ~30 speeches and they are pretty neatly divided in thirds of British, American, and other orators. I understand why that would be (the editor is British, and his audience English-speaking), but still it'd have been nice to go a bit more diverse. The entirety of East Asia is represented by one speech each of Genghis Khan, Mao, and Xi Jinping. Sub-Saharan Africa must content itself with a single speech by Nelson Mandela. So, East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa combined get as many speeches as Winston Churchill alone.
Also, Sebag Montefiore's recency bias makes him eschew the best orators of antiquity: As wild as that may sound, there is neither Pericles's funeral oration nor Demosthenes's Philippics nor Cicero's invectives against Catiline or Antony in the book.
These quibbles with the editor aside, the selection is mostly interesting, and the audio book production I listened to is of excellent quality with a variety of narrators. (I recommend listening to the speeches, as they were intended to, instead of reading them.)
Most importantly: Many of the speeches are good. Here are my personal favorites (named as they are in the book):
5. Winston Churchill, Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat
4. Alexander the Great, You Have Alexander
3. Susan B. Anthony, Are Women Persons?
2. Sojourner Truth, Ain't I a Woman?
1. Martin Luther King, I Have a Dream
January 5, 2018
Este interesant să citești discursurile persoanelor care au influențat in mod pozitiv/negativ lumea sau care au avut ceva de spus în perioada respectivă. Uimitor cum carisma, aptitudinile oratorice și un discurs bine pregatit pot influența masele indiferent ca ai intenții de bună sau rea credință. Cartea este bună per ansamblu dar lipsesc multe discursuri legendare precum cele ale clasicilor ca: Demostene, Cezar etc.
Cred că cartea respectivă va fi utilă și interesantă viitorilor vorbitori in public sau celor pasionați de istorie.
Cred că cartea respectivă va fi utilă și interesantă viitorilor vorbitori in public sau celor pasionați de istorie.
September 11, 2011
This is the best speech book I have because it comes with a set of recording on CD of some of hte modern speeches. It is just electric listening (and reading). Beautifully presented with some great speeches of men and women throughout time. Just love it and highly recommend ikt
February 15, 2020
This collection provides examples of the power of words for good and for evil. It was wonderful to 'hear'
the dignity and passion of Martin Luther-King, Barak Obama and Abraham Lincoln
the battlefield motivation of Tim Collins
the courage of Socrates, Anwar al-Sadat and Yitzhak Rabin
the defiance of Churchill
the eloquent sadness of Elie Wiesel
the sober voices of Oppenheimer and Greta Thunberg
It was also deeply disturbing to 'hear'
the ruthless hatred of Hitler, Stalin and Genghis Khan
the demented rantings of Nero.
I have been reminded of our capacity for evil but I have read some of these with tears in my eyes when nobility, dignity and quiet courage have shone through.
the dignity and passion of Martin Luther-King, Barak Obama and Abraham Lincoln
the battlefield motivation of Tim Collins
the courage of Socrates, Anwar al-Sadat and Yitzhak Rabin
the defiance of Churchill
the eloquent sadness of Elie Wiesel
the sober voices of Oppenheimer and Greta Thunberg
It was also deeply disturbing to 'hear'
the ruthless hatred of Hitler, Stalin and Genghis Khan
the demented rantings of Nero.
I have been reminded of our capacity for evil but I have read some of these with tears in my eyes when nobility, dignity and quiet courage have shone through.
July 16, 2023
48 kalbos - nuo Jėzaus iš Nazareto iki Barack Obama. Kiekvienai kalbai pridėta trumpa kalbos autoriaus biografija bei politinis ir istorinis kontekstas, kuriame kalba nuskambėjo. Tai ne tik padeda geriau suprasti kalbos laikmetį, bet ir sužadina smalsumą daugiau pasidomėti kai kuriais kalbėtojais.
Ko pritrūko? Iš 48 kalbų, tik 4 yra pasakytos moterų - dvi iš amerikiečių ir bričių kampanijos už moterų teisę balsuoti. Gal tai atspindi moterims sudarytas galimybes įsiterpti į pasaulinę politinę areną? O gal nebuvo pasistengta surasti daugiau moetrų pasakytų kalbų? Ir keistoka, kad nebuvo anei vienos kalbos apie LGBTIQA+, nors modernus judėjimas už jų teises vyksta nuo praėjusio amžiaus 7-o dešimtmečio. Kažkas juk veikiausiai yra pasakęs svarbesnę kalbą apie tai?
Ko pritrūko? Iš 48 kalbų, tik 4 yra pasakytos moterų - dvi iš amerikiečių ir bričių kampanijos už moterų teisę balsuoti. Gal tai atspindi moterims sudarytas galimybes įsiterpti į pasaulinę politinę areną? O gal nebuvo pasistengta surasti daugiau moetrų pasakytų kalbų? Ir keistoka, kad nebuvo anei vienos kalbos apie LGBTIQA+, nors modernus judėjimas už jų teises vyksta nuo praėjusio amžiaus 7-o dešimtmečio. Kažkas juk veikiausiai yra pasakęs svarbesnę kalbą apie tai?
April 18, 2020
Kitabın okuduktan sonra adının "Dünyayı Değiştiren Konuşmalar" yerine "Değişen Dünyaya Konuşmalar" olması gerektiğini düşünüyorum. Son yüzelli yılda dünya siyasetinin gelişimi(?) ile toplumların aldığını şekiller bunların sonunda kimilerinin saptama, kimilerinin güzelleme kimilerinin de af dilediği konuşmaların derlendiği güzel bir kitap olmuş. Kitap bize bir şey vaad etmiyor ama gelinen noktaya bakıldığında, varılacak noktaya hazır olmak adına da her bireyin kendi kapasitesince hazırlıklı olması ve geçen onca hayata bakınca da zamana gerekli önemi verip kendi zamanımızı akıllıca harcamamız gerektiğininin mesajını veriyor.
May 21, 2021
Alguns discursos muito bons, outros nem tanto, mas o mais interessante acaba sendo o panorama histórico que o autor dá. E alguns discursos quase respondendo a outros. Achei algumas passagens muito boas, mas é uma leitura bem lenta, pra ir lendo aos pouquinhos mesmo.
August 24, 2021
O colecție interesanta de discursuri ale unor mari personalități. Mi-a plăcut foarte tare faptul ca are și o scurta introducere despre persoana care a susținut discursul, precum și contextul în care acesta a fost susținut.
August 9, 2021
Anaphora เยอะมากๆจริงๆนี้ speech ประทับใจนส.เล่มนี้มากๆ
May 23, 2022
Smagu, kad pateikiami trumpi komentarai apie žmogų ir tada pateikiama kalba. Tačiau, sunkiai skaitosi.
January 26, 2023
This isn’t a book you can rush through as there is so much to take in from each speech. I really enjoyed reading the history around the person and the speech - felt like I learnt a lot!
March 18, 2018
some interesting ones, most not so...
May 17, 2020
Un bel volume a livello grafico ed editoriale e un interessante progetto: raccogliere i discorsi più significativi della nostra storia.
Sebbene non abbia ritenuto tutti i discorsi rilevanti allo stesso modo, ho apprezzato la decisione di includere anche "sezioni" della storia mondiale meno note ai più (ad esempio il discorso di scuse del presidente Australiano alle "generazioni rubate", il discorso di insediamento del primo presidente della Repubblica Ceca per citarne alcuni).
Un bel volume da avere in libreria.
Se devo consigliare un solo discorso: Elie Wiesel e il pericolo dell'indifferenza ... eterno!
Sebbene non abbia ritenuto tutti i discorsi rilevanti allo stesso modo, ho apprezzato la decisione di includere anche "sezioni" della storia mondiale meno note ai più (ad esempio il discorso di scuse del presidente Australiano alle "generazioni rubate", il discorso di insediamento del primo presidente della Repubblica Ceca per citarne alcuni).
Un bel volume da avere in libreria.
Se devo consigliare un solo discorso: Elie Wiesel e il pericolo dell'indifferenza ... eterno!
November 26, 2019
I have enjoyed various aspects of this book, including the speeches. Inevitably some more than others.
I found SSM’s introduction to the book quite powerful. The intros to every speech were also helpful - felt like arranging the chairs to listen to the speech.
Including women’s speeches is also helpful to compensate for the male perspective of history that we have grown used to - I am observing rather than passing judgement.
But what really surprised me is SSM statements that we live in a world characterised, amongst others, by antisemitism. I know it is out there but to read SSM’s characterisation made pause and think.
I found SSM’s introduction to the book quite powerful. The intros to every speech were also helpful - felt like arranging the chairs to listen to the speech.
Including women’s speeches is also helpful to compensate for the male perspective of history that we have grown used to - I am observing rather than passing judgement.
But what really surprised me is SSM statements that we live in a world characterised, amongst others, by antisemitism. I know it is out there but to read SSM’s characterisation made pause and think.
August 31, 2021
A collection of great speeches. Some speeches were missing for a book called "Speeches that Changed the World". Many of the speeches were abbreviated with questionable choices of what was cut out.
I would wish the author would have emphasized when something was abbreviated. Just simply write "I've seen the promised land - AN EXCERPT" By Martin Luther King.
Speeches in this volume:
1. Jesus of Nazareth: "Blessed are the poor in spirit"
1st century AD.
- From the Sermon on the Mount (St. Matthew's Gospel)
2. The Prophet Mohammed: "Turn then your face towards the Sacred Mosque"
7th century AD.
- From the Surah al-Baqarah (Qu'ran)
3. Queen Elizabeth I: "I have the heart and stomach of a king"
8 August 1588.
- Speech to encourage the English militia at Tilbury.
4. King Charles I: "I go from the corruptible to an incorruptible crown"
30 January 1649
- Speech on the scaffold.
5. Oliver Cromwell: "In the name of God, go!"
20 April 1653.
- Speech dismissing the Rump Parliament
6. George Washington: "A passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils"
17 Septemper 1796.
- Presidential farewell address.
7. Thomas Jefferson: "We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists"
4 March 1801
- Presidential inaugural address.
8. Napoleon Bonaparte: "Soldiers of my Old Guard: I bid you farewell"
20 April 1814.
- Farewell speech to the Imperial Guard.
9. Abraham Lincoln: "Government of the people, by the people, for the people"
19 November 1863.
- The Gettysburg Address.
10. Susan B. Anthony: "Are women persons?"
February-June 1873.
- Touring lecture 'Is it a Crime for a Citizen of the United States to vote?"
11. Emmeline Pankhurst: "I am here as a soldier"
13 November 1913.
- Speech on the British campaign for women's suffrage.
12. Patrick Pearse: "Ireland unfree shall never be at peace"
1 August 1915.
- Funeral oration for Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa.
13. Woodrow Wilson: "The World must be made safe for democracy"
2 April 1917.
- Speech to Congress seeking a declaration of war.
14. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin: "Power to the Soviets"
Septemper 1917.
- Speech advancing Bolshevik political aims.
15. Clarence Darrow: "I believe in the law of love"
11 May 1926.
- Closing speech in defense of Henry Sweet.
16. Mohandas K. Gandhi: "I have faith in the righteousness of our cause"
11 March. 1930.
- Speech on the eve of his "Salt March".
17. Franklin D. Roosevelt: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"
4 March 1933.
- Presidential inaugural address.
18. Franklin D. Roosevelt: "A date which will live in infamy"
8 December 1941.
- Speech to Congress seeking a declaration of war.
19. Adolf Hitler: "My patience is now at an end"
26 Septemper 1938.
- Speech demanding the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia.
20. Adolf Hitler: "I am from now on just first soldier of the Reich"
1 Septemper 1939.
- Speech announcing war with Poland.
21. Neville Chamberlain: "Peace for our time"
30 Septemper 1938.
- Statement following the Munich Conference.
22. Joseph Stalin: "It is imperative that we agree to conclude the pact"
19 August 1938.
- Speech to the Politburo about the Nazi-Soviet Pact.
23. Winston Churchill:
"Blood, toil, tears and sweat"
"We shall fight on the beaches"
"This was their finest hour"
"Never in the field of human conflict"
"An iron curtain has descended"
1940-46.
- Speeches on the Second World War and its aftermath.
24. Charles de Gaulle: "The flame of French resistance must not and shall not die"
18 June 1940.
- Radio appeal to create the Free French forces.
25. Vyacheslav Molotov: "Perfidy unparalleled in the history of civilized nations"
22 June 1941
- Radio broadcast condemning the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union.
26. George S. Patton Jr.: "I am personally going to shoot that paper-hanging sonofabitch Hitler"
5 June 1944.
- Rallying speech to the US Third Army before D-Day.
27. Emperor Hirohito: "Enduring the unendurable"
15 August 1945.
- Broadcast explaining Japan's surrender.
28. Robert Oppenheimer: "We are not only scientist; we are men, too"
2 November 1945.
- Speech on the atomic age and scientific responsibility.
29. Jawaharlal Nehru: "At the stroke of the midnight hour... India will awake"
14 August 1947.
- Speech making independence of India.
30. Douglas MacArthur: "I have just left your fighting sons in Korea"
19 April 1951.
- Farewell address to Congress.
31. Nikita Khrushchev: "The cult of the individual"
25 February 1956.
- Secret speech denouncing Stalin at the 20th Communist Party Congress.
32. John F. Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you"
20 January 1961.
- Presidential inaugural address.
33. John F. Kennedy: "Ich bin ein Berliner"
26 June 1963.
- Speech at the Berlin Wall defending democracy.
34. Martin Luther King, Jr: "I have a dream"
28 August 1963.
- Civil rights speech at the Lincoln Memorial.
35. Martin Luther King, Jr: "I've seen the promised land"
3 April 1968.
- Civil right speech on the eve of his assassination.
36. Nelson Mandela: "An ideal for which I am prepared to die"
20 April 1964.
- Trial speech defending his actions and goals.
37. Nelson Mandela: "Free at last"
2 May 1994.
- Speech after ANC election victory.
38. Malcolm X: "You can't hate the roots of a tree and not hate the tree"
14 February 1965.
- Speech celebrating African descent.
39. Pierre Trudeau: "Who are the kidnap victims?"
16 October 1970.
- Address during Quebec separatist crisis.
40. Richard Nixon: "There can be no whitewash at the White House"
30 April 1973.
- National address promising transparency over the Watergate affair.
41. Indira Gandhi: "The special responsibility of the women of India"
23 November 1974.
- Speech on the value of women's education.
42. Chaim Herzog: "Hate, ignorance and evil"
10 November 1975.
- United Nations address condemning anti-Semitism.
43. Anwar al-Sadat: "We accept to live with you in permanent peace.
20 November 1977.
- Address to Israeli Knesset offering peace negotiations.
44. Pope John Paul II: " Our Polish freedom costs so much"
18 June 1983.
- Speech to his Polish compatriots.
45. Ronald Reagan: "Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
12 June 1987.
- Speech in West Berlin supporting democratic principles.
46. Mikhail Gorbachev: "Freedom of choice is a universal principle"
7 December 1988.
- United Nations speech about Soviet reforms.
47. Václav Haval: "We live in a contaminated moral environment"
1 January 1990.
- Broadcast reviewing the Czech communist past.
48. Earl Spencer: "The most hunted person of the modern age"
6 Septemper 1997.
- Funeral oration of for Diana, Princess of Wales.
49. Elie Wiesel: "The perils of indifference"
12 April 1999.
- Speech reviewing the 20th century's calamities.
50. George W. Bush: "Today, our nation saw evil"
11 Septemper 2001.
- Address to the nation after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
51. Gerry Adams: "Our struggle has reached a defining moment"
6 April 2005.
- Speech asking the Irish Republican Army to abandon violence.
52. Kevin Rudd: "To the stolen generations... I am sorry"
13 February 2008.
- Parliamentary motion apologizing to for the historic mistreatment of Australia's Aboriginal people.
53. Barack Obama: "America is a place where all things are possible"
4 November 2008.
- Speech after winning the US presidential election.
I would wish the author would have emphasized when something was abbreviated. Just simply write "I've seen the promised land - AN EXCERPT" By Martin Luther King.
Speeches in this volume:
1. Jesus of Nazareth: "Blessed are the poor in spirit"
1st century AD.
- From the Sermon on the Mount (St. Matthew's Gospel)
2. The Prophet Mohammed: "Turn then your face towards the Sacred Mosque"
7th century AD.
- From the Surah al-Baqarah (Qu'ran)
3. Queen Elizabeth I: "I have the heart and stomach of a king"
8 August 1588.
- Speech to encourage the English militia at Tilbury.
4. King Charles I: "I go from the corruptible to an incorruptible crown"
30 January 1649
- Speech on the scaffold.
5. Oliver Cromwell: "In the name of God, go!"
20 April 1653.
- Speech dismissing the Rump Parliament
6. George Washington: "A passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils"
17 Septemper 1796.
- Presidential farewell address.
7. Thomas Jefferson: "We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists"
4 March 1801
- Presidential inaugural address.
8. Napoleon Bonaparte: "Soldiers of my Old Guard: I bid you farewell"
20 April 1814.
- Farewell speech to the Imperial Guard.
9. Abraham Lincoln: "Government of the people, by the people, for the people"
19 November 1863.
- The Gettysburg Address.
10. Susan B. Anthony: "Are women persons?"
February-June 1873.
- Touring lecture 'Is it a Crime for a Citizen of the United States to vote?"
11. Emmeline Pankhurst: "I am here as a soldier"
13 November 1913.
- Speech on the British campaign for women's suffrage.
12. Patrick Pearse: "Ireland unfree shall never be at peace"
1 August 1915.
- Funeral oration for Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa.
13. Woodrow Wilson: "The World must be made safe for democracy"
2 April 1917.
- Speech to Congress seeking a declaration of war.
14. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin: "Power to the Soviets"
Septemper 1917.
- Speech advancing Bolshevik political aims.
15. Clarence Darrow: "I believe in the law of love"
11 May 1926.
- Closing speech in defense of Henry Sweet.
16. Mohandas K. Gandhi: "I have faith in the righteousness of our cause"
11 March. 1930.
- Speech on the eve of his "Salt March".
17. Franklin D. Roosevelt: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"
4 March 1933.
- Presidential inaugural address.
18. Franklin D. Roosevelt: "A date which will live in infamy"
8 December 1941.
- Speech to Congress seeking a declaration of war.
19. Adolf Hitler: "My patience is now at an end"
26 Septemper 1938.
- Speech demanding the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia.
20. Adolf Hitler: "I am from now on just first soldier of the Reich"
1 Septemper 1939.
- Speech announcing war with Poland.
21. Neville Chamberlain: "Peace for our time"
30 Septemper 1938.
- Statement following the Munich Conference.
22. Joseph Stalin: "It is imperative that we agree to conclude the pact"
19 August 1938.
- Speech to the Politburo about the Nazi-Soviet Pact.
23. Winston Churchill:
"Blood, toil, tears and sweat"
"We shall fight on the beaches"
"This was their finest hour"
"Never in the field of human conflict"
"An iron curtain has descended"
1940-46.
- Speeches on the Second World War and its aftermath.
24. Charles de Gaulle: "The flame of French resistance must not and shall not die"
18 June 1940.
- Radio appeal to create the Free French forces.
25. Vyacheslav Molotov: "Perfidy unparalleled in the history of civilized nations"
22 June 1941
- Radio broadcast condemning the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union.
26. George S. Patton Jr.: "I am personally going to shoot that paper-hanging sonofabitch Hitler"
5 June 1944.
- Rallying speech to the US Third Army before D-Day.
27. Emperor Hirohito: "Enduring the unendurable"
15 August 1945.
- Broadcast explaining Japan's surrender.
28. Robert Oppenheimer: "We are not only scientist; we are men, too"
2 November 1945.
- Speech on the atomic age and scientific responsibility.
29. Jawaharlal Nehru: "At the stroke of the midnight hour... India will awake"
14 August 1947.
- Speech making independence of India.
30. Douglas MacArthur: "I have just left your fighting sons in Korea"
19 April 1951.
- Farewell address to Congress.
31. Nikita Khrushchev: "The cult of the individual"
25 February 1956.
- Secret speech denouncing Stalin at the 20th Communist Party Congress.
32. John F. Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you"
20 January 1961.
- Presidential inaugural address.
33. John F. Kennedy: "Ich bin ein Berliner"
26 June 1963.
- Speech at the Berlin Wall defending democracy.
34. Martin Luther King, Jr: "I have a dream"
28 August 1963.
- Civil rights speech at the Lincoln Memorial.
35. Martin Luther King, Jr: "I've seen the promised land"
3 April 1968.
- Civil right speech on the eve of his assassination.
36. Nelson Mandela: "An ideal for which I am prepared to die"
20 April 1964.
- Trial speech defending his actions and goals.
37. Nelson Mandela: "Free at last"
2 May 1994.
- Speech after ANC election victory.
38. Malcolm X: "You can't hate the roots of a tree and not hate the tree"
14 February 1965.
- Speech celebrating African descent.
39. Pierre Trudeau: "Who are the kidnap victims?"
16 October 1970.
- Address during Quebec separatist crisis.
40. Richard Nixon: "There can be no whitewash at the White House"
30 April 1973.
- National address promising transparency over the Watergate affair.
41. Indira Gandhi: "The special responsibility of the women of India"
23 November 1974.
- Speech on the value of women's education.
42. Chaim Herzog: "Hate, ignorance and evil"
10 November 1975.
- United Nations address condemning anti-Semitism.
43. Anwar al-Sadat: "We accept to live with you in permanent peace.
20 November 1977.
- Address to Israeli Knesset offering peace negotiations.
44. Pope John Paul II: " Our Polish freedom costs so much"
18 June 1983.
- Speech to his Polish compatriots.
45. Ronald Reagan: "Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
12 June 1987.
- Speech in West Berlin supporting democratic principles.
46. Mikhail Gorbachev: "Freedom of choice is a universal principle"
7 December 1988.
- United Nations speech about Soviet reforms.
47. Václav Haval: "We live in a contaminated moral environment"
1 January 1990.
- Broadcast reviewing the Czech communist past.
48. Earl Spencer: "The most hunted person of the modern age"
6 Septemper 1997.
- Funeral oration of for Diana, Princess of Wales.
49. Elie Wiesel: "The perils of indifference"
12 April 1999.
- Speech reviewing the 20th century's calamities.
50. George W. Bush: "Today, our nation saw evil"
11 Septemper 2001.
- Address to the nation after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
51. Gerry Adams: "Our struggle has reached a defining moment"
6 April 2005.
- Speech asking the Irish Republican Army to abandon violence.
52. Kevin Rudd: "To the stolen generations... I am sorry"
13 February 2008.
- Parliamentary motion apologizing to for the historic mistreatment of Australia's Aboriginal people.
53. Barack Obama: "America is a place where all things are possible"
4 November 2008.
- Speech after winning the US presidential election.
September 5, 2012
A compilation of influential speeches with poorly written lead ins that fail to give a decent context in which the speeches were given. The speeches themselves are wonderful, but I can't give the book credit for printing abridged versions of better men's words.
October 14, 2014
Bukunya ok, kertas nya lumayan. Isinya yang kurang nyaman dibaca
September 19, 2019
Patiko platus istorinis kontekstas.
September 2, 2022
Aquest llibre ha sigut una decepció enorme. Sí, tots els discursos que hi apareixen són summament interessants i, independentment de si s'està d'acord amb el que diuen o no, crec que és important conèixer-los. Ara bé, dubto bastant que algunes de les paraules que aquí apareixen hagin canviat el món, més bé diria que algunes d'elles van tenir un fort impacte local, regional o nacional, però ja està.
Tampoc puc ignorar que l'autor ha decidit ignorar els períodes més antics de la història de la humanitat; de veritat que pensadors com Sòcrates o Aristòtil, o estrategues militars com Juli Cèsar no van dir res tan rellevant com per merèixer aparèixer en aquest llibre? L'autor ha inclòs en aquesta obra "discursos" de Moisès, Jesús i Mahoma, però sembla que ho ha fet per omplir el "cupo" de "discursos" antics més que no pes per convenciment autèntic de què tals paraules van ser rellevants.
I com obviar que es nota bastant quina és l'opinió de l'autor sobre certs temes i que ha escollit personalitats que li "caiguessin bé" per abordar-los. M'explico: el conflicte entre Palestina i Israel és només mencionat per persones que van ser pro-Israel. Mira, pot no agradar-te Iàssir Arafat, però d'aquí a no incloure'l en aquest llibre...
Entenc que si vols limitar l'obra als 50 discursos més rellevants de la història, hauràs de deixar a algú a fora, però literalment que en aquest llibre no hi apareix cap personatge llatinoamericà; sembla que el discur de la Mare Teresa de Calcuta contra l'avortament és més important que alguns de Salvador Allende, Fidel Castro o el Che Guevara. Per mi està basant clar que l'autor no va incloure cap d'aquests tres homes per motius ideològics (quasi la meitat dels discursos del llibre són anticomunistes).
Altres absències a destacar: Martí Luter, sembla que ser l'inspirador de la reforma protestant no és suficient per aparèixer en aquest llibre. Mao Zedong, tot i que si hagués volgut continuar amb la seva tendència anticomunista podria haver escollit un discurs de Chiang Kai-shek. Patrice Lumumba. Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán. Simone de Beauvoir o Virginia Woolf. Juan o Eva Perón. Josip Broz Tito (sembla que haver incentivat la creació del Moviment de Països No-alineats no és massa rellevant).
En fi, aquest llibre no presenta els 50 discursos que han canviat el món, sinó els 50 discursos d'alguns personatges que l'autor ha trobat interessants i de molts més que li cauen bé.
Tampoc puc ignorar que l'autor ha decidit ignorar els períodes més antics de la història de la humanitat; de veritat que pensadors com Sòcrates o Aristòtil, o estrategues militars com Juli Cèsar no van dir res tan rellevant com per merèixer aparèixer en aquest llibre? L'autor ha inclòs en aquesta obra "discursos" de Moisès, Jesús i Mahoma, però sembla que ho ha fet per omplir el "cupo" de "discursos" antics més que no pes per convenciment autèntic de què tals paraules van ser rellevants.
I com obviar que es nota bastant quina és l'opinió de l'autor sobre certs temes i que ha escollit personalitats que li "caiguessin bé" per abordar-los. M'explico: el conflicte entre Palestina i Israel és només mencionat per persones que van ser pro-Israel. Mira, pot no agradar-te Iàssir Arafat, però d'aquí a no incloure'l en aquest llibre...
Entenc que si vols limitar l'obra als 50 discursos més rellevants de la història, hauràs de deixar a algú a fora, però literalment que en aquest llibre no hi apareix cap personatge llatinoamericà; sembla que el discur de la Mare Teresa de Calcuta contra l'avortament és més important que alguns de Salvador Allende, Fidel Castro o el Che Guevara. Per mi està basant clar que l'autor no va incloure cap d'aquests tres homes per motius ideològics (quasi la meitat dels discursos del llibre són anticomunistes).
Altres absències a destacar: Martí Luter, sembla que ser l'inspirador de la reforma protestant no és suficient per aparèixer en aquest llibre. Mao Zedong, tot i que si hagués volgut continuar amb la seva tendència anticomunista podria haver escollit un discurs de Chiang Kai-shek. Patrice Lumumba. Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán. Simone de Beauvoir o Virginia Woolf. Juan o Eva Perón. Josip Broz Tito (sembla que haver incentivat la creació del Moviment de Països No-alineats no és massa rellevant).
En fi, aquest llibre no presenta els 50 discursos que han canviat el món, sinó els 50 discursos d'alguns personatges que l'autor ha trobat interessants i de molts més que li cauen bé.
December 3, 2022
🚀 The Book in a Sentence
This book is about the key speeches of different important people who have contributed positively to the world in different manners.
Impression
I first found this book when I was trying to improve on my public speaking. I thought that it would be great if I could get an example of how other famous speakers have crafted their speeches.
How the Book Changed Me
The book gave me more knowledge about the different important people in history throughout the world.
My Top 3 Quotes
I shall often go wrong through defect of judgement. When right, I shall often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not command a view of the whole ground. I ask your indulgence for my own errors, which will never be intentional, and your support against the errors of others, who may condemn what they would not if seen in all its parts.
-Thomas Jefferson, Pg 44
I will only say that it is what costs that constitute value. It is not, in fact, possible to be truly free without an honest and profound relationship with values.
- Pope John Paul II, Pg 195
We live in a contaminated moral environment. We fell morally ill because we became used to saying something different from what we thought. We learned not to believe in anything, to ignore each other, to care only about ourselves. Concepts such as love, friendship, compassion, humility or forgiveness lost their depth and dimensions, and for many of us they represented only psychological peculiarities, or they resembled gone-astray greetings from ancient times, a little ridiculous in the era of computers and spaceships.
- Vaclav Havel, Pg 211
This book is about the key speeches of different important people who have contributed positively to the world in different manners.
Impression
I first found this book when I was trying to improve on my public speaking. I thought that it would be great if I could get an example of how other famous speakers have crafted their speeches.
How the Book Changed Me
The book gave me more knowledge about the different important people in history throughout the world.
My Top 3 Quotes
I shall often go wrong through defect of judgement. When right, I shall often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not command a view of the whole ground. I ask your indulgence for my own errors, which will never be intentional, and your support against the errors of others, who may condemn what they would not if seen in all its parts.
-Thomas Jefferson, Pg 44
I will only say that it is what costs that constitute value. It is not, in fact, possible to be truly free without an honest and profound relationship with values.
- Pope John Paul II, Pg 195
We live in a contaminated moral environment. We fell morally ill because we became used to saying something different from what we thought. We learned not to believe in anything, to ignore each other, to care only about ourselves. Concepts such as love, friendship, compassion, humility or forgiveness lost their depth and dimensions, and for many of us they represented only psychological peculiarities, or they resembled gone-astray greetings from ancient times, a little ridiculous in the era of computers and spaceships.
- Vaclav Havel, Pg 211
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