The Transit Lounge

Kathryn Crosby

Words have the power to move and shape ideas, thoughts and our world, and when spoken out loud can be particularly powerful. Some are so moving, so powerful, they are recorded and referred to throughout time as markers of our humanity.

There are numerous books and collections of speeches, such as Speeches That Changed the World: The stories and transcripts of the moments that made history - a well rounded collection that offers a world view of important speeches. It comes complete with short background notes to help the reader understand the significance and atmosphere of the time each speech was delivered. Other books just have the speeches, or of course there are numerous websites with text, audio and video.

Presidents and Prime Ministers, Kings and Queens are well represented in the lists of people who have delivered great speeches throughout time, including that historic defence of her gender by Queen Elizabeth I at Tilbury in 1588: “I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and a king of England too”.

US Presidential Inaugural addresses — the speech they make when being sworn in as President — lend themselves to great speeches. Speechwriters work for months crafting the perfect speech, which outlines the direction of the nation for the next four years.

Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and not the best orator, gave an inaugural address that was famed for its forthright statement of republican (small r) ideals. He declared “We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists. If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.”

John F Kennedy’s inaugural is a veritable collection of quotable quotes: “Man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life.”; “If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.”; “Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.”; and of course “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”.

There are a number of speeches from the World War II era that were powerful and pursuasive: Winston Churchill was an incredible orator and contibuted many great speeches during the period; Charles De Gaulle “The flame of the French Resistance must not and shall not die”; Vyacheslav Molotov on the Nazi invasion of Germany; Joseph Stalin on signing the pact with Germany; Franklin Delanor Roosevelt the day after the attack on Pearl Harbour “No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory"; Emperor Hiroto on the Surrender of Japan; and General George S Patton Jr to the US Army on the eve of D-Day “I am personally gonna shoot that paper-hanging sonofabitch Hitler”.

Hitler himself mastered a powerful oratory that gives a clue as to how he became so powerful in the first place: “These democracies which are overflowing with phrases about peace are the most bloodthirsty instigators of war”; “Either accept this offer and now at last give to the Germans their freedom or we will go and fetch this freedom for ourselves”; “My whole life has been nothing but one long struggle for my people”.

The civil rights movement is responsible for giving us some of the best speakers and speeches of all time. We all instinctively know Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a Dream" and Nelson Mandella's "Free at last". It is worth checking out Frederick de  Klerk “The time for negotiation has arrived”, Malcolm X “The Ballot or the Bullet”,  and the closing speech of Attorney Clarence Darrow in his defence of Henry Sweet in 1926: “I would like to see a time when man loves his fellow man, and forgets his colour or creed. We will never be civilized until that time comes”.

Equal opportunity and sufferage also was the subject of mny great speeches and speakers. Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst was a tremendous entertainer full of resolve, who delivered her most famous speech "Freedom or death" at Hartford, Connecticut, on November 13 1913. Pioneer Elizabeth Cady Stanton had the same combination of fire and eloquence in 1868 with "The Destructive Male".

Australia, unfortunately, lacks a tradition of great oratory. The most memorable words uttered by an Australian would surely be the one made by a sacked Gough Whitlam as he stood on the steps of Parliament House: “May well we say God save the Queen because nothing will save the Governor General”. Henry Parkes' Tenterfield Speech is often referred to as one of the tipping points in favor of feration. Our leaders are better known for their extemporaneous invective than world-changing oratory.  

There are some unusual yet still moving inclusions on the list of speeches worth noting — Marie Curie on the discovery of Radium, Mother Teresa on receiving her Nobel Peace Prize, or the gob-smacking speech delivered to the Seventh White House Millenium Evening by holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, The Perils of Indiference.

Speeches such as Barack Obama’s ‘The Audacity of Hope’ are shaping our world right now, adding to the collection that never ends, and forever affirming the power of the apoken word.