Best Speeches........

[SunDancer]

What is the best speech you have heard, or what do you feel is the best speech ever? Why? Do any speeches stick with you?

[JPhillips]

Recently, Tony Blair's speech to Parliament before the vote on Iraq was brilliant. He said everyhting Bush was saying, but he said it in a way that motivated and inspired. He's really a great speaker. I wish he could do some of the talking for Bush.

I'm not sure anything equals the Gettysburg Address. So much brilliance in so few words.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

The Great Crusade speech by Ike the night of the Normandy invasions.

[TroyF]

Some of my favorites:

http://www.mlkonline.com/

Click on the speeches tab. My personal favorite is "I see the promised land," though most people remember the "I Have a Dream" speech.

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http://www.watergate.info/nixon/checkers-speech.shtml

One of the all-time best political speeches. I despise Richard Nixon, but this speech is pure gold. How could you not like these couple of paragraphs:

"One other thing I probably should tell you because if we don't they'll probably be saying this about me too, we did get something-a gift-after the election. A man down in Texas heard Pat on the radio mention the fact that our two youngsters would like to have a dog. And, believe it or not, the day before we left on this campaign trip we got a message from Union Station in Baltimore saying they had a package for us. We went down to get it. You know what it was.

It was a little cocker spaniel dog in a crate that he'd sent all the way from Texas. Black and white spotted. And our little girl-Tricia, the 6-year old-named it Checkers. And you know, the kids, like all kids, love the dog and I just want to say this right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we're gonna keep it."

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Can't forget the "This Day in Infamy" speech by Roosevelt either.

TroyF

[Hawaii Warrior]

"Well, boys ... I haven't a thing to say.
Played a great game...all of you. Great game.
(He tries to smile.)
I guess we just can't expect to win ‘em all.
(Rockne pauses and says quietly.)
I'm going to tell you something I've kept to myself for years --
None of you ever knew George Gipp.
It was long before your time.
But you know what a tradition he is at Notre Dame...
(There is gentle, faraway look in his eyes as he recalls the boy's words.)
And the last thing he said to me -- "Rock," he said -
"sometime, when the team is up against it -- and the
breaks are beating the boys -- tell them to go out there
with all they got and win just one for the Gipper...
(Knute's eyes become misty and his voice is unsteady as he finishes.)
I don't know where I'll be then, Rock", he said - "but
I'll know about it - and I'll be happy."" -Knute Rockne

----------------------


"And the same backfield, Jimmy, you and Collins, Chevigny, and Niemiec. Now-w the success of any team men is based on team-play -- the same as you've shown all year --: Sacrifice; unselfish sacrifice! These are the fellows they say are pretty good; but I think we're better! And I think if we get ourselves keyed up to a point, and when we're confident of that ... why-y-y the results will take care of themselves.

All right, now. On the kickoff -- if we receive, the zone men will drop back to the receiver and block long -- that old Notre Dame style. If we kickoff -- which the rest of the teams want -- let's run down fast -- just as fast as you can run. And then we go on defense. And on defense -- I want the center in and out of that line -- according to the situation. Use your old head! And I want you guards charging through as far as you can go -- on every play. Expect the play right over you every time --.

And the tackles -- I want you to go in a yard and a half -- and then check yourselves. Spread your feet -- squat down low -- and be ready with your hands and elbows, so you won't be sideswiped. But I want the ends in there fast every play. Every play, but under control. And you men in the backfield there, I want you to analyze it before you move. If they throw a forward pass, a zone pass, wait ‘til you see the ball in the air -- and then go and get it! And when we get it, boys, that's when we go on offense. And that's when we go to ‘em -- and, don't forget, we're gonna pick on one last one tackle that is weak.

We're going inside of ‘em, we're going outside of ‘em -- inside of ‘em! outside of ‘em! -- and when we get them on the run once, we're going to keep ‘em on the run. And we're not going to pass unless their secondary comes up too close. But don't forget, men -- we're gonna get ‘em on the run, we're gonna go, go, go, go! -- and we aren't going to stop until we go over that goal line! And don't forget, men -- today is the day we're gonna win. They can't lick us -- and that's how it goes... The first platoon men -- go in there and fight, fight, fight, fight, fight! What do you say, men!" -Knute Rockne

[samifan24]

Lou Gehrig's farewell speech.

[SunDancer]

I personally like Jimmy Valvano's speech.

[MrBug708]

I actually have to do a speech this Thursday. A famous one that takes no more then 3 minutes. Anyone have any stirring ones? Lou Gehrig's is a greta choice

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

That Win one for the Gipper speech send chills through my spine and wants me to go out there and KILL!

[Franklinnoble]

Winston Churchill made a few good ones...

[Ragone]

Movie speech-Bill Pulman's speech in Independence day was good.

Real Life-Jimmy V's speech was great

[sabotai]

"Recently, Tony Blair's speech to Parliament before the vote on Iraq was brilliant. He said everyhting Bush was saying, but he said it in a way that motivated and inspired. He's really a great speaker. I wish he could do some of the talking for Bush."

I told a freind of mine before the war started that if Bush seriously wanted to get everyone on his side he'd just shut the hell up and let Tony Blair talk for him.

[Franklinnoble]

I think nothing could be more stirring than Clark Griswold's speech at the end of "Christmas Vacation"

[Neuqua]

That speech Michael Moore made during this year's Oscars was simply brilliant.




Neuqua

[Fritz]

these two:

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit
To his full height. On, on, you noblest English.
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof!
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument:
Dishonour not your mothers; now attest
That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'
-----------

What's he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin:
If we are mark'd to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires:
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England:
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more, methinks, would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into his purse:
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

[Senator]

". . . I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone.

At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of His Majesty's Government–every man of them. That is the will of Parliament and the nation. The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength.

Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of the Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail.

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

[Samdari]

As my father in law died of Lou Gehrig's disease at 53, I am partial to his farewell speech.

[astralhaze]

This one really inspired me to become a more honest and moral human being.

"Now, I have to go back to work on my State of the Union speech. And I worked on it until pretty late last night. But I want to say one thing to the American people. I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again.

I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.

I never told anybody to lie. Not a single time. Never.

These allegations are false. And I need to go back to work for the American people.

Thank you. "

[KWhit]

Damn, Fritz. You beat me to the St Crispin's day speech. That has to be one of the all timers.

Those of you that just scrolled past it because it was so much text should go back up and read Fritz's post.

BTW, the Kenneth Branagh version of Henry 5 is brilliant.

[EagleFan]

The Tony Blair one was a good one. He is a great public speaker and he sounds even better if he speaks after Bush.

The Reagan "Tear down the wall" one was good.

I don't remember any specific ones, but Clinton was good when not in defensive mode. Once he got defensive it was too much "what is is".

I'm not endorsing his beliefs at all but I have to say from the footage that I've seen Hitler seemed to be a good public speaker. This is all taken from not knowing one word that he is saying but just going from crowd reaction. Unfortunately he was created and aided by prior events and circumstances that helped fuel the nationalistic feeling at the time in that country. That is why the regime change in Iraq has to be quick and with what seems like as little outside influence from here out, so we don't create another one to replace Saddam.

The William Wallace speach in Braveheart was a good one in the movies.

There are a lot of speaches in history that I would like to be able to "travel in time" to see, just to be a fly on the wall. Like many of the ones around the revolutionary and civil war.

[Anrhydeddu]

Real life: Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and MLK

Movies:

Ray, people will come Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won't mind if you look around, you'll say. It's only $20 per person. They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it's money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered they're heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. And the memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh,.. people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.

[Hammer755]

I'm a big fan of the space program, so Kennedy's declaration that we would go to the moon has always stuck with me.

JFK - September 12, 1962 at Rice University

We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

[Anrhydeddu]

One other one, more of a quote

"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it goes .... And Summer is gone."

- A. Bartlett Giamatti

[revrew]

My fave two are Crispin's Day and "I have a dream", MLKjr. But how can you forget...

"There's no crying in baseball!"

[GrantDawg]

How has no one mentioned Patrick Henry's address? An excert from the end:

There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free--if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending--if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained--we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us! They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength but irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable--and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.

It is in vain, sir, to extentuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

[Radii]

Jimmy V's speech makes me cry every time. Whose life hasn't been touched by cancer in some way? Of course, for me, Jimmy V was the first celebrity I grew up watching on TV on an almost daily basis to have to face mortality, so it was a pretty major thing for me

Lou Gehrig's is also very good.

Dr King's I have a dream speech, and the gettysburg address for the non-sports related ones.

[Easy Mac]

Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory lasts forever - Shane "Footsteps" Falco

[Samdari]

WOW, what a day in FOFC land

First, HM is banned, then in a discussion of the great speeches of all time, someone quotes The Replacements. You found the above better than the 'quicksand' comparison, Mac? I found that one very deep. Please, SOMEONE, put a Summer School reference here. Oh hell, I'll do it. I love the part where Shoop (Mark Harmon) tells Pam (Courtney Thorne-Smith) that she did the right thing ditching summer school to surf. Can anyone here honestly watch that scene without bawling? And then in the climactic scene with the principal, Shoop inspiring those poor kids by telling them that because they improved, they did not fail. Melts a man's heart.

[sterlingice]

I know Churchill had tons of great quotables, but I'm too lazy to look them up currently.

SI

[Brillig]

Not to disrespect JFK, but

We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard...

I hate this line - "we chose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things"

And do the other things? How awkward a phrase is that? That spoils the whole thing for me - I'd have to go with the Bard.

[SunDancer]

Originally posted by Radii
Jimmy V's speech makes me cry every time. Whose life hasn't been touched by cancer in some way? Of course, for me, Jimmy V was the first celebrity I grew up watching on TV on an almost daily basis to have to face mortality, so it was a pretty major thing for me

what you mean that you have to face mortality on a daily basis?

[Craptacular]

Originally posted by Franklinnoble
I think nothing could be more stirring than Clark Griswold's speech at the end of "Christmas Vacation"

His one in "Vacation" was pretty good as well:


CLARK: I think you're all fucked in the head. We're ten hours from the fucking fun park and you want to bail out. Well I'll tell you something. This is no longer a vacation! It's a quest. It's a quest for fun! I'm gonna have fun and you're gonna have fun. We're all gonna have so much fucking fun we'll need plastic surgery to remove our godamn smiles! You'll be whistling 'Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah' out of you're assholes! I gotta be crazy! I'm on a pilgrimage to see a moose. Praise Marty Moose! Holy Shit!

[Radii]

Originally posted by SunDancer
what you mean that you have to face mortality on a daily basis?

Bad sentence structure on my part.

I watched Jim Valvano on TV for years, and growing up in the RDU area he was quite the celebrity, up there with Dean and a young coach K at the time, and he was the first celebrity I felt any sort of an adoration/respect/attachment to that I had to witness dying basically. Hard for me to put into the proper words obviously. "Witness Dying" obviously isn't what I'm going for, but I think that explains what I mean. A loss of innocence thing, your TV heros aren't going to live forever, and neither are you, etc.