An Impassioned Speech
Cicero Denounces Catiline by Cesare Maccari, 1888 (public domain - Wikipedia)
“One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.”
Inspiration can come from any source, as long as you’re paying attention.
That’s why what I do here isn’t just informed by history or literature; the arts come into play regularly — certainly every image I select for each newsletter has an underlying meaning, and there are instances of films that have given me pause and inspired observations.
Such as the MGM lion that reminded us that we can learn and grow from art.
Or the Old West gunfight that taught us about grace and integrity.
And the inhumanity of automation, where machines take precedence over basic humanity, as we saw in the 1927 film Metropolis and in the 1964 episode “The Brain Center at Whipple’s” in The Twliight Zone.
A Speech to Remember
Speeches have been stirring humans for as long as we’ve had the ability to speak. One of the greatest orators in history was Cicero, and while we’ve never heard the sound of his voice, his choice of words and delivery stirred his fellow Romans to action in the Senate.
Can you recall Charlie Chaplin’s voice if I asked you? (Spoiler: I’m asking you.)
The “Little Tramp” is still most well-known for his silent films in which is lithe body and facial expressions tell us everything we need to know to laugh or cry.
When Chaplin made his debut in a speaking role, he delivered one of the most moving and thought-provoking speeches in cinematic history.
The Great Dictator was written, produced, directed by and starred Chaplin, and it premiered on October 15, 1940, while the United States was still promoting appeasement with Nazi Germany.
This timeless and timely speech is still relevant today, thanks to the emotional delivery and its powerful message of humanity.
Transcript:
I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an Emperor — that’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone, if possible — Jew, gentile, black man, white.
We all want to help one another; human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness, not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there’s room for everyone and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone.
The way of life can be free and beautiful.
But we have lost the way.
Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little.
More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.
The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out for universal brotherhood for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women, and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.
To those who can hear me I say, do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass and dictators die; and the power they took from the people will return to the people and so long as men die, liberty will never perish.
Soldiers, don’t give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you, enslave you, who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel; who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don't hate; only the unloved hate, the unloved and the unnatural.
Soldiers, Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! In the seventeenth chapter of Saint Luke it is written, “the kingdom of God is within man” — not one man, nor a group of men, but in all men, in you, you the people have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness. You the people have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.
Then, in the name of democracy, let us use that power! Let us all unite! Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give you the future and old age a security.
By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power, but they lie! They do not fulfill their promise; they never will. Dictators free themselves, but they enslave the people!
Now, let us fight to fulfill that promise! Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness.
Timeless truths from a time gone by when the world was on the brink of an uncertain future.
Kindness, generosity, collaboration, humanity over technology, and the pursuit of happiness — these were timely then, and they still ring true.
Your words have the power to convey all of these virtues. How will you choose to speak with the people who matter most to you?
There’s so much to learn,