Kidscorner

Wednesday 26 October 2011

A must see speech

I stumbled upon the following speech. Charlie Chaplin known from the silent movies impressed me with this speech which is from the movie "The great dictator" from 1940 directed by him. The leaders of the world can learn a lot from this. A must see or read for everybody!!


"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 all 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 is room for everyone and the 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 [now] liberty will never perish…
Soldiers – don’t give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you and 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 as cattle, 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. Only 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, the people.
You the people have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness. You the people have the power to make life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy let’s 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 and 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 fulfil that promise. Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, 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.

Soldiers - in the name of democracy, let us all unite!"

Arohanui, marja

6 comments:

  1. Oh Marja, the struggle for peace and unity. It's such a great ideal. If only we could get a little closer. Thanks for this inspiration.

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  2. Truly wonderful words as true now as when it was first spoken.

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  3. yes that is the exact thing that we humans do not understand...earth is so big and everything is plentiful but with unfair distribution of wealth, more than half of the world population is below poverty line...nice share by you..even though i have watched the movie but didnt remember this speech ....

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  4. Hi Marja
    What a wonderful find and a brilliant speech.. If only more could see and think like that, This world would not be in the mess its in today.
    Hugs to you and Have a Great Weekend xox

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  5. Amen! This is how I always have thought. This speech is amazing especially coming from Charly Chaplin impersonating Hitler. Thank you for sharing this.

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  6. Incredible!
    So glad you shared!

    Margie x

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Thank you!!