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Famous Short Speeches
William Neckard As these famous short speeches prove, it's not always about the quantity of words spoken that make a difference, it's more about the quality of the words chosen to make an impact and go down in history. What are some famous short speeches? From the notable Gettysburg Address given by Abraham Lincoln to words of wisdom and inspiration shared by Winston Churchill to young children, these short speeches will be remembered for generations to come.
Many of these famous speeches are remembered for the impact they made on the world, be it reacting to a historical situation, like Roosevelt's speech after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, saying farewell to a career, like the notable sports speech Loui Gherig gave to say goodbye to baseball, or discussing the end of an era, like Napoleon Bonapart's Farewell to the Old Guard Speech. What are the most famous short speeches? Whatever the reason for the speech, these words of wisdom remain notable decades after the fact and will continue to be notable for decades to come.
Many of these famous speeches are remembered for the impact they made on the world, be it reacting to a historical situation, like Roosevelt's speech after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, saying farewell to a career, like the notable sports speech Loui Gherig gave to say goodbye to baseball, or discussing the end of an era, like Napoleon Bonapart's Farewell to the Old Guard Speech. What are the most famous short speeches? Whatever the reason for the speech, these words of wisdom remain notable decades after the fact and will continue to be notable for decades to come.
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The Gettysburg Address
One of the most famous speeches in United States history, President Abraham Lincoln spoke during the Civil War on November 19, 1863.
"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." - 2
Lou Gehrig's Farewell to Baseball Address
Speaking to fans at "Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day" at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939, legendary baseball player Lou Gehrig explained how he was "the luckiest man on the face of the earth."
"Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.
I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans. Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn’t consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day?
Sure I’m lucky.
Who wouldn’t consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball’s greatest empire, Ed Barrow? To have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy?
Sure I’m lucky.
When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift - that’s something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies -- that’s something.
When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter -- that’s something.
When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so you can have an education and build your body -- it’s a blessing.
When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed -- that’s the finest I know.
So, I close in saying that I might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for." - 3
Napoleon Bonaparte's Farewell to the Old Guard
After the failed invasion of Russia and a defeat by the Allies, Napoleon Bonapart addressed his troops on April 20, 1814, to issue his farewell.
"Soldiers of my Old Guard:
I bid you farewell. For twenty years I have constantly accompanied you on the road to honor and glory. In these latter times, as in the days of our prosperity, you have invariably been models of courage and fidelity. With men such as you our cause could not be lost; but the war would have been interminable; it would have been civil war, and that would have entailed deeper misfortunes on France.
I have sacrificed all of my interests to those of the country.
I go, but you, my friends, will continue to serve France. Her happiness was my only thought. It will still be the object of my wishes. Do not regret my fate; if I have consented to survive, it is to serve your glory. I intend to write the history of the great achievements we have performed together. Adieu, my friends. Would I could press you all to my heart." - 4
Winston Churchill's Never Give In Speech
Speaking to a group of school children on October 29, 1941, United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill provided inspiration and advice to the crowd in this notable short speech.
Excerpt:
" Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never--in nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy." - 5
Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Infamy Speech
United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed the Joint Session of Congress on December 8, 1941, just one day after Japan attacked the Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii. The short speech was later dubbed the "Infamy Speech" due to Roosevelt describing the attack as "a date which will live in infamy."
Excerpt:
"Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives:
Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."
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Famous Short Speeches at 2/05/2013 2:30 PM
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