List of speeches
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of articles. For the text of many speeches, go to the Wikisource Collection of Speeches.
This list of speeches includes those that have gained enough notability in English or in English translation to be explored in Wikipedia. To keep the list manageable, each entry includes at most only two links to Wikipedia articles — one to the entry about the speech itself and one to the person who delivered it. The earliest listings may be approximate dates.
[edit] BC
- 431: Funeral Oration by the Greek statesman Pericles, significant because it departed from the typical formula of Athenian funeral speeches and was a glorification of Athens' achievements, designed to stir the spirits of a nation at war.
- 399: The Apology of Socrates, Plato's version of the speech given by the philosopher Socrates, defending himself against charges of being a man "who corrupted the young, refused to worship the gods, and created new deities."
- 330: On the Crown by the Greek orator Demosthenes, which illustrated the last great phase of political life in Athens.
- 63: Catiline Orations, given by Marcus Tullius Cicero, the consul of Rome, exposing to the Roman Senate the plot of Lucius Sergius Catilina and his friends to overthrow the Roman government.
[edit] Through the 18th century
- 30: The Sermon on the Mount, a compilation of the sayings of Jesus, epitomizing his moral teaching.
- 632: The Farewell Sermon, delivered by Muhammad the day before his death.
- 1095: Beginning of the Christian Crusades by Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont.
- 1588: Speech to the Troops at Tilbury by Elizabeth I of England, in preparation for repelling an expected invasion by the Spanish Armada.
- 1601: The Golden Speech by Elizabeth I of England, in which she revealed that it would be her final Parliament and spoke of the love and respect she had for the country, her position, and the parliamentarians themselves.
- 1630: A Model of Christian Charity by Puritan leader and Massachusetts Governor John Winthrop, in which the phrase "City Upon a Hill" was used and became popular in the American colonies.
- 1741: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, a sermon by theologian Jonathan Edwards, noted for the glimpse it provides into the ideas of the religious Great Awakening of 1730–1755 in the United States.
- 1775: Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death by U.S. colonial patriot Patrick Henry to the Virginia House of Burgesses.
- 1791: Abolish the Slave Trade, British Parliamentarian William Wilberforce's four-hour speech to the House of Commons.
[edit] Nineteenth century
- 1803: Speech From the Dock by the Irish nationalist Robert Emmet.
- 1823: President James Monroe's State of the Union Address to Congress in which he first stated the Monroe Doctrine.
- 1851: Ain't I A Woman?, extemporaneously delivered by abolitionist Sojourner Truth at a Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio.
- 1858: A House Divided, in which U.S. President Abraham Lincoln said, speaking of the pre-Civil War United States, "A house divided against itself cannot stand."
- 1861: The Cornerstone speech by Alexander Stephens, vice president of the Confederate States of America, in which he set forth the differences between the constitution of the Confederacy and that of the United States, laid out causes for the American Civil War, and defended slavery.
- 1861: Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, on the eve of the American Civil War.
- 1862: The Blood and Iron speech by Prussian strongman Otto von Bismarck on the unification of Germany.
- 1863: The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln, resolving that government "of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
- 1865: Lincoln's Second Inaugural, in which the President sought to avoid harsh treatment of the defeated South.
- 1877: The Surrender of Nez Perce Chief Joseph, pledging to "fight no more forever."
- 1890–1900s: Acres of Diamonds speeches by Temple University President Russell Conwell, the central idea of which was that the resources to achieve all good things were present in one's own community.
- 1893: Swami Vivekananda's address at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago, in which the Indian sage introduced Hinduism to North America.
- 1896: Cross of Gold by U.S. presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, advocating bimetallism.
[edit] Twentieth century
[edit] Through World War I
- 1901: Votes for Women, by the American writer Mark Twain.
- 1906: I Warn the Government, by Conservative member F.E. Smith in the British House of Commons.
- 1910: The Man in the Arena, by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, quoted by President Richard Nixon and cited by South Africa President Nelson Mandela.
- 1915: Ireland Unfree Shall Never Be at Peace, by Irish Nationalist Patrick Pearse, significant in the lead-up to the Easter Rising of 1916.
- 1917: War Message to Congress by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson.
- 1918: Fourteen Points by Woodrow Wilson, laying out the terms for the end of World War I.
[edit] Through World War II
- 1932: The Bomber Will Always Get Through. a phrase used by English statesman Stanley Baldwin in a House of Commons speech, "A Fear For The Future."
- 1933: You Cannot Take Our Honour by Otto Wels, the only German Parliamentarian to speak against the Enabling Act, which took the power of legislation away from the Parliament and handed it to Adolf Hitler's cabinet.
- 1933: The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself, from the first inaugural address of U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
- 1934: Every Man A King, a phrase used in many speeches by Louisiana Governor Huey Long.
- 1936: Address to the League of Nations by the Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia on the invasion of his country by Benito Mussolini of Italy.
- 1939: The Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth, by baseball player Lou Gehrig upon his retirement from the New York Yankees.
- 1940: Arsenal of Democracy, a radio address by U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who warned against a sense of complacency if Britain were to fall to the Axis powers.
- 1940: The Appeal of June 18, French leader Charles de Gaulle's radio broadcast from London, the beginning of the Resistance to German occupation during World War II.
- 1940: Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat, a phrase used by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt in 1897 but popularized by Winston Churchill in the first of three inspirational radio addresses during the opening months of World War II.
- 1940: We Shall Fight on the Beaches, from the second radio talk by Winston Churchill, promising to never surrender.
- 1940: This Was Their Finest Hour, the third address by Winston Churchill, giving a confident view of the military situation and rallying the British people.
- 1940: Never Was So Much Owed by So Many to So Few by Winston Churchill, speaking in another radio talk about the air and naval defenders of Great Britain.
- 1941: Four Freedoms, in which Franklin Delano Roosevelt outlined goals for peace but called for a massive build-up of U.S. arms production.
- 1941: A Date Which Will Live in Infamy, post-Pearl Harbor speech to the U.S. Congress in which Franklin Delano Roosevelt called for a declaration of war against Japan.
- 1942: Quit India by Mohandas K. Gandhi, calling for determined, but passive, resistance against British occupation.
- 1942: The Forgotten People by the Australian Liberal Party leader Sir Robert Menzies, defining and exalting the nation's middle class.
- 1943: Do You Want Total War? by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, who exhorted the Germans to continue the war even though it would be long and difficult.
- 1944: Paris Liberated by Charles de Gaulle on the day he took up governmental duties at the War Ministry in Paris.
- 1945: Imperial Rescript on Surrender, recorded by Japanese Emperor Hirohito and broadcast as an unconditional capitulation to the Allies.
[edit] To the death of John F. Kennedy
- 1946: Sinews of Peace by Winston Churchill, introducing the phrase Iron Curtain to describe the division between eastern and western Europe.
- 1947: Tryst with Destiny by Jawaharlal Nehru, about the hundred-year struggle against the British Empire in India.
- 1948: The Light Has Gone Out of Our Lives by Jawaharlal Nehru, about the assassination of Mohandas K. Gandhi.
- 1949: Four Points by U.S. President Harry Truman, setting his postwar goals.
- 1949: The Light on the Hill by Australia Prime Minister Ben Chifley, paying tribute to the country's labour movement.
- 1951: Old Soldiers Never Die by U.S. General Douglas MacArthur in an appearance before Congress after being fired by President Truman as Supreme Commander in the Korean War.
- 1952: The political Checkers speech by U.S. vice-presidential candidate Richard M. Nixon, in which he mentioned his family's pet dog of that name.
- 1953: History Will Absolve Me, a four-hour judicial defense by revolutionary Fidel Castro on charges of leading an attack on Cuban Army barracks.
- 1956: On the Personality Cult and its Consequences by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, castigating actions taken by the regime of deceased Communist Party secretary Joseph Stalin.
- 1956: We Will Bury You by Nikita Khrushchev, addressing Western ambassadors at a reception in the Polish embassy in Moscow.
- 1957: Longest Speech in the United Nations by Indian delegate V.K. Krishna Menon.
- 1959: There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom by physicist Richard Feynman, on the possibility of direct manipulation of individual atoms as a new form of chemical synthesis.
- 1960: Wind of Change speech by British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in South Africa, restarting the policy of decolonialisation that had been halted by the Conservative U.K. government.
- 1961: Military Industrial Complex, a speech at the end of the term of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in which he warned of the rise of such a complex in the United States.
- 1961: Ask What You Can Do For Your Country, the inaugural address of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, in which he advised his "fellow Americans" to "ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country."
- 1961: The Wasteland speech by Newton Minow, chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, in which he asserted that "when television is bad, nothing is worse."
- 1963: Segregation Now, Segregation Tomorrow, Segregation Forever by Alabama Governor George Wallace, which became a rallying cry for those opposed to racial integration and the U.S. civil rights movement.
- 1963: I Am Prepared to Die by South African leader Nelson Mandela at his trial in which he laid out the reasoning for using violence as a tactic against apartheid.
- 1963: Ich Bin Ein Berliner by U.S. President John F. Kennedy, voicing support for the people of East Berlin.
- 1963: I Have a Dream, LIncoln Memorial speech by Martin Luther King Jr. in which the civil rights leader called for racial equality and an end to discrimination.
[edit] To the fall of the USSR
- 1964: The Ballot or the Bullet by Nation of Islam leader Malcolm X, urging African-Americans to exercise their right to vote but warning that if they were prevented from attaining equality, it might be necessary to take up arms.
- 1964: A Time for Choosing, the stock campaign speech that Ronald Reagan made on behalf of Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater.
- 1964: Speech at the United Nations in 1964 by Cuban revolutionary leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara.
- 1966: Day of Affirmation by U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, speaking to South African students about individual liberty, apartheid, and the need for civil rights in the United States.
- 1967: Vive le Québec libre ("Long live free Quebec"), a phrase ending a speech by French President Charles de Gaulle in Montreal, Canada. The slogan became popular among those wishing to show their support for Quebec sovereignty.
- 1968: I've Been to the Mountaintop, the last speech delivered by civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
- 1968: The Death of Martin Luther King Jr. by U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
- 1968: A Good and Decent Man, the funeral eulogy for Robert F. Kennedy by U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy.
- 1968: Rivers of Blood by United Kingdom Conservative Enoch Powell about immigration.
- 1971: This Time the Struggle Is for Our Freedom by Bengali nationalist leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, regarded by many in Bangladesh as a de facto declaration of independence.
- 1971: Address to the Women of America by feminist leader Gloria Steinem. Not only did the speech address the issues of sexism and misogyny, but also those of racism and social class.
- 1974: I Have Never Been a Quitter, the resignation speech of U.S. President Richard M. Nixon.
- 1975: No More Than a Piece of Paper, the Israeli response to United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379, that Zionism is "a form of racism and racial discrimination," delivered by Ambassador Chaim Herzog.
- 1983: Evil Empire, a phrase used in speeches by U.S. President Ronald Reagan to refer to the Soviet Union.
- 1987: Tear Down This Wall, the challenge made at the Brandenburg Gate by U.S. President Ronald Reagan to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to destroy the Berlin Wall.
[edit] To the end of the 20th century
- 1987: Today and Forever, Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa's reaction to the failure of the Meech Lake Accord on the Canadian Constitution.
- 1988: Sermon on the Mound, in which British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher offered a theological justification for her ideas on capitalism.
- 1989: The Gazimestan speech, in which Serbian President Slobodan Milošević warned of "armed battles" in the future of Yugoslavia.
- 1990: Their Bats Have Been Broken, the resignation speech of Geoffrey Howe as deputy prime minister in the Margaret Thatcher government of the United Kingdom.
- 1992: Culture War speech by U.S. conservative Presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, in which he described "a religious war going on in our country for the soul of America."
- 1996: I Am an African by South Africa Vice-President Thabo Mbeki on the adoption of a new Constitution for the country.
[edit] Twenty-first century
- 2003: Iraq War Eve-of-Battle speech by British Lieutenant Colonel Tim Collins.
- 2004: U.S. Democratic National Convention Keynote address by Illinois State Senator Barack Obama, which helped him become nationally known.
- 2006: Chocolate City speech by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, concerning race politics in the city several months after Hurricane Katrina.
- 2008: A More Perfect Union, in which U.S. Presidential candidate Barack Obama responded to controversial remarks made by the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, his former pastor.
- 2008: Barack Obama's Election Victory speech in Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois.
[edit] See also
- Speeches of Max Weber
- President George Washington's Farewell Address, which was not a speech but rather a written letter to the American people
