20 Inspirational Speeches By Famous Personalities
by Madhumitha
Updated Mar 25, 2024
Inspirational Speeches By Famous Personalities
In history, lots of important people like leaders, writers, politicians, and activists have given strong speeches to make things better. We've picked out 40 of the best speeches from all over the world.
They talk about different things like social issues, politics, and money. These speeches are from different types of people, men and women, from different backgrounds, and different times in history. You might really like some of these speeches because they have powerful words and messages.
1. The Gettysburg Address-Abraham Lincoln
Speech:
“Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.”
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
President Abraham Lincoln is famously known because he stood against slavery, which was really bad in America. But it was hard for him. After slavery stopped, he had to make the country come together again, even though there were still big problems with racism against African Americans.
He told people to remember they all came from the same place and it's important to be good to everyone. He wanted the country to have peace that was fair and lasted long, even though there was a lot of fighting and disagreement about race and people's rights.
2. Their Finest Hour-Winston Churchill
Speech:
“What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour.””
During the war, it's tough to unite people for a big cause. But Winston Churchill was special. In 1940, when Britain was struggling in World War II, he used his strong words to give people hope and bravery.
Even in hard times, he made the English feel brave. He led Britain in fighting against the Nazis, and he's remembered for bringing everyone together to honor the soldiers who gave up a lot.
3. First Inaugural Speech-Franklin D Roosevelt
Speech:
“So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is…fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.
…
More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.
Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously.
There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped merely by talking about it. We must act and act quickly.
…
I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken Nation in the midst of a stricken world may require. These measures, or such other measures as the Congress may build out of its experience and wisdom, I shall seek, within my constitutional authority, to bring to speedy adoption.
But in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, and in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me. I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis — broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.”
Roosevelt gave a big speech when he became president during a really hard time called the Great Depression. He said Congress needed to act fast to make the government bigger and help fix things so people weren't so poor anymore. Lots of people agreed with him, and he won by a lot in the election.
4. The Hypocrisy of American Slavery-Frederick Douglass
Speech:
“What to the American slave is your Fourth of July? I answer, a day that reveals to him more than all other days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mock; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy – a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation of the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour.
Go search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the Old World, travel through South America, search out every abuse and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival.”
On July 4, 1852, Frederick Douglass spoke in Rochester, New York. He said it was not right to celebrate freedom while slavery was still around. He thought slavery was cruel and hypocritical. Even though people celebrated independence, slavery continued.
Douglass was also a slave but escaped. Then, he became a leader in fighting against slavery in Massachusetts and New York. He fights against slavery and racism in his speeches and writings. His efforts still affect movements for Black rights and American society today.
5. A Room of One’s Own-Virginia Woolf
Speech:
“Life for both sexes – and I looked at them (through a restaurant window while waiting for my lunch to be served), shouldering their way along the pavement – is arduous, difficult, a perpetual struggle. It calls for gigantic courage and strength. More than anything, perhaps, creatures of illusion as we are, it calls for confidence in oneself. Without self-confidence we are babes in the cradle. And how can we generate this imponderable quality, which is yet so invaluable, most quickly? By thinking that other people are inferior to oneself.
By feeling that one has some innate superiority – it may be wealth, or rank, a straight nose, or the portrait of a grandfather by Romney – for there is no end to the pathetic devices of the human imagination – over other people. Hence the enormous importance to a patriarch who has to conquer, who has to rule, of feeling that great numbers of people, half the human race indeed, are by nature inferior to himself.
It must indeed be one of the great sources of his power….Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size. Without that power probably the earth would still be swamp and jungle. The glories of all our wars would be on the remains of mutton bones and bartering flints for sheepskins or whatever simple ornament took our unsophisticated taste.
Supermen and Fingers of Destiny would never have existed. The Czar and the Kaiser would never have worn their crowns or lost them. Whatever may be their use in civilised societies, mirrors are essential to all violent and heroic action. That is why Napoleon and Mussolini both insist so emphatically upon the inferiority of women, for if they were not inferior, they would cease to enlarge.
That serves to explain in part the necessity that women so often are to men. And it serves to explain how restless they are under her criticism; how impossible it is for her to say to them this book is bad, this picture is feeble, or whatever it may be, without giving far more pain and rousing far more anger than a man would do who gave the same criticism.
For if she begins to tell the truth, the figure in the looking-glass shrinks; his fitness in life is diminished. How is he to go on giving judgment, civilising natives, making laws, writing books, dressing up and speechifying at banquets, unless he can see himself at breakfast and at dinner at least twice the size he really is?”
In her speech, Virginia Woolf says that for a woman to write fiction, she needs two things: money and a room of her own. She talks about how women have been held back for years because they didn't have space to grow as individuals.
They were stuck in traditional roles or controlled by men. Woolf says it takes a lot of courage and self-belief for women to fight for their rights. With her strong words and new ideas, she inspired many women to stand up against men's control and make their own way in the world.
6. 1965 Cambridge Union Hall Speech-James Baldwin
Speech:
“What is dangerous here is the turning away from – the turning away from – anything any white American says. The reason for the political hesitation, in spite of the Johnson landslide is that one has been betrayed by American politicians for so long. And I am a grown man and perhaps I can be reasoned with. I certainly hope I can be.
But I don’t know, and neither does Martin Luther King, none of us know how to deal with those other people whom the white world has so long ignored, who don’t believe anything the white world says and don’t entirely believe anything I or Martin is saying. And one can’t blame them. You watch what has happened to them in less than twenty years.”
Baldwin talked at the Cambridge Union Hall about how racism makes life different for white and African Americans. He said racism is still a big issue even after the Civil War.
Baldwin shared important ideas on how people who are oppressed and those who oppress them can understand each other better and stop hating each other because of racism. He admitted he didn't have all the answers, but he gave good advice to activists dealing with tough times.
7. Nobel Lecture-Mother Teresa
Speech:
“I believe that we are not real social workers. We may be doing social work in the eyes of the people, but we are really contemplatives in the heart of the world. For we are touching the Body Of Christ 24 hours. We have 24 hours in this presence, and so you and I. You too try to bring that presence of God in your family, for the family that prays together stays together.
And I think that we in our family don’t need bombs and guns, to destroy to bring peace–just get together, love one another, bring that peace, that joy, that strength of presence of each other in the home. And we will be able to overcome all the evil that is in the world.
There is so much suffering, so much hatred, so much misery, and we with our prayer, with our sacrifice are beginning at home. Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the action that we do. It is to God Almighty–how much we do it does not matter, because He is infinite, but how much love we put in that action. How much we do to Him in the person that we are serving.”
Many people think Mother Teresa is really kind. But if we listen to her old speeches, we see she cared about more than just being nice. She wanted to help people who were suffering and make things fair.
She said something smart: love starts at home. Being kind every day can make life better for everyone. Her speeches aren't just comforting for a short time—they still teach us today how to live in a way that's important.
8. Quit India-Mahatma Gandhi
Speech:
“We shall either free India or die in the attempt; we shall not live to see the perpetuation of our slavery. Every true Congressman or woman will join the struggle with an inflexible determination not to remain alive to see the country in bondage and slavery. Let that be your pledge. Keep jails out of your consideration.
If the Government keep me free, I will not put on the Government the strain of maintaining a large number of prisoners at a time, when it is in trouble. Let every man and woman live every moment of his or her life hereafter in the consciousness that he or she eats or lives for achieving freedom and will die, if need be, to attain that goal.
Take a pledge, with God and your own conscience as witness, that you will no longer rest till freedom is achieved and will be prepared to lay down your lives in the attempt to achieve it. He who loses his life will gain it; he who will seek to save it shall lose it. Freedom is not for the coward or the faint-hearted.”
Gandhi was a brave activist who spoke against colonial rule. He led peaceful protests that united people to fight for India's freedom. His speeches were inspiring and gave hope to people everywhere, not just in India.
9. The Struggle for Human Rights-Eleanor Roosevelt
Speech:
“It is my belief, and I am sure it is also yours, that the struggle for democracy and freedom is a critical struggle, for their preservation is essential to the great objective of the United Nations to maintain international peace and security. Among free men the end cannot justify the means.
We know the patterns of totalitarianism — the single political party, the control of schools, press, radio, the arts, the sciences, and the church to support autocratic authority; these are the age-old patterns against which men have struggled for three thousand years. These are the signs of reaction, retreat, and retrogression. The United Nations must hold fast to the heritage of freedom won by the struggle of its people; it must help us to pass it on to generations to come.
The development of the ideal of freedom and its translation into the everyday life of the people in great areas of the earth is the product of the efforts of many peoples. It is the fruit of a long tradition of vigorous thinking and courageous action.
No one race and on one people can claim to have done all the work to achieve greater dignity for human beings and great freedom to develop human personality. In each generation and in each country there must be a continuation of the struggle and new steps forward must be taken since this is preeminently a field in which to stand still is to retreat.”
Eleanor Roosevelt was a liked First Lady because she talked well and seriously in all her speeches. People thought she could be a good president because of her words. In one speech, she talks strongly about democracy's important values. She says everyone should respect human rights, no matter where they are from or what they believe.
10. Living the Revolution-Gloria Steinem
Speech:
“The challenge to all of us, and to you men and women who are graduating today, is to live a revolution, not to die for one. There has been too much killing, and the weapons are now far too terrible. This revolution has to change consciousness, to upset the injustice of our current hierarchy by refusing to honor it, and to live a life that enforces a new social justice. Because the truth is none of us can be liberated if other groups are not.”
In 1970, Gloria Steinem gave a surprising speech at Vassar College. She told the new graduates to help marginalized groups. She said it's time for Women's Liberation and we need a big change in society to fight unfairness and protect human rights. She stressed that until everyone is free, nobody is really free.
11. The Audacity of Hope-Barack Obama
Speech:
“I’m not talking about blind optimism here — the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don’t think about it, or the health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about something more substantial. It’s the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker’s son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too.
Hope — Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of hope!
In the end, that is God’s greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation. A belief in things not seen. A belief that there are better days ahead.”
Barack Obama's hopeful story is in a book now. He first talked about it in a speech, where he said it's important to believe in America and work hard to make things better. People think he's one of the best and most inspiring presidents ever. Many say he's one of the best speakers too.
12. The Ballot or The Bullet-Malcolm X
Speech:
“And in this manner, the organizations will increase in number and in quantity and in quality, and by August, it is then our intention to have a black nationalist convention which will consist of delegates from all over the country who are interested in the political, economic and social philosophy of black nationalism.
fter these delegates convene, we will hold a seminar; we will hold discussions; we will listen to everyone. We want to hear new ideas and new solutions and new answers. And at that time, if we see fit then to form a black nationalist party, we’ll form a black nationalist party. If it’s necessary to form a black nationalist army, we’ll form a black nationalist army. It’ll be the ballot or the bullet. It’ll be liberty or it’ll be death.”
Malcolm X gave strong speeches that helped the civil rights movement. He told Black Americans they should vote and, if needed, fight against racism. He was a big leader who showed many Black people why it was important to stand up against white supremacists for their rights.
13. I have a dream-MLK
Speech:
“I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification – one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day, this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning “My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my father’s died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!”
Martin Luther King's speech is very inspiring because it was given when Black people in America were facing a tough time. Even though slavery had ended, they still faced a lot of racism and unfair treatment, especially during the Jim Crow era.
King talked passionately about his dream for a future where racism would stop and everyone would be treated equally.
14. I Have A Dream Speech-Mary Wollstonecraft
Speech:
“If, I say, for I would not impress by declamation when Reason offers her sober light, if they be really capable of acting like rational creatures, let them not be treated like slaves; or, like the brutes who are dependent on the reason of man, when they associate with him; but cultivate their minds, give them the salutary, sublime curb of principle, and let them attain conscious dignity by feeling themselves only dependent on God. Teach them, in common with man, to submit to necessity, instead of giving, to render them more pleasing, a sex to morals.
Further, should experience prove that they cannot attain the same degree of strength of mind, perseverance, and fortitude, let their virtues be the same in kind, though they may vainly struggle for the same degree; and the superiority of man will be equally clear, if not clearer; and truth, as it is a simple principle, which admits of no modification, would be common to both. Nay, the order of society as it is at present regulated would not be inverted, for woman would then only have the rank that reason assigned her, and arts could not be practised to bring the balance even, much less to turn it.”
Mary Wollstonecraft was one of the first feminists in 1792. She didn't just write about it, but also gave speeches speaking out against how women were treated unfairly. She wanted a future where women would be seen as equal to men, with the same rights and abilities.
Her speeches said that women should be treated fairly in the law and have the same chances for education as men. She also said women shouldn't be forced into traditional roles like getting married and being mothers if they didn't want to.
15. Freedom from Fear-Aung San Suu Kyi
Speech:
“The quintessential revolution is that of the spirit, born of an intellectual conviction of the need for change in those mental attitudes and values which shape the course of a nation’s development. A revolution which aims merely at changing official policies and institutions with a view to an improvement in material conditions has little chance of genuine success.
Without a revolution of the spirit, the forces which produced the iniquities of the old order would continue to be operative, posing a constant threat to the process of reform and regeneration. It is not enough merely to call for freedom, democracy and human rights. There has to be a united determination to persevere in the struggle, to make sacrifices in the name of enduring truths, to resist the corrupting influences of desire, ill will, ignorance and fear.
Saints, it has been said, are the sinners who go on trying. So free men are the oppressed who go on trying and who in the process make themselves fit to bear the responsibilities and to uphold the disciplines which will maintain a free society.
Among the basic freedoms to which men aspire that their lives might be full and uncramped, freedom from fear stands out as both a means and an end. A people who would build a nation in which strong, democratic institutions are firmly established as a guarantee against state-induced power must first learn to liberate their own minds from apathy and fear.”
Aung San Suu Kyi is famous for fighting for democracy in Burma. Even when she was kept under house arrest by the military, she didn't give up. People find her speeches very motivating.
In one important speech, she tells the people of Burma to not be afraid and to keep fighting for their freedom and rights. She still works hard today to keep people safe and free in Burma, even though there are still some signs of authoritarian rule.
16. Atoms for Peace Speech-Dwight Eisenhower
Speech:
“To pause there would be to confirm the hopeless finality of a belief that two atomic colossi are doomed malevolently to eye each other indefinitely across a trembling world. To stop there would be to accept helplessly the probability of civilization destroyed, the annihilation of the irreplaceable heritage of mankind handed down to us from generation to generation, and the condemnation of mankind to begin all over again the age-old struggle upward from savagery towards decency, and right, and justice.
Surely no sane member of the human race could discover victory in such desolation. Could anyone wish his name to be coupled by history with such human degradation and destruction?Occasional pages of history do record the faces of the “great destroyers”, but the whole book of history reveals mankind’s never-ending quest for peace and mankind’s God-given capacity to build.
It is with the book of history, and not with isolated pages, that the United States will ever wish to be identified. My country wants to be constructive,not destructive. It wants agreements, not wars, among nations. It wants itself to live in freedom and in the confidence that the peoples of every other nation enjoy equally the right of choosing their own way of life.
So my country’s purpose is to help us to move out of the dark chamber of horrors into the light, to find a way by which the minds of men, the hopes of men, the souls of men everywhere, can move forward towards peace and happiness and well-being.”
President Eisenhower talked seriously about the danger of nuclear war. He used strong words to say it's crucial for the world to cooperate. He explained how the atomic bomb impacts everyone globally. Eisenhower was skilled at making his speeches strong and easy to remember, making him one of the best speakers ever.
17. The Last Words of Harvey Milk-Harvey Milk
Speech:
“I cannot prevent some people from feeling angry and frustrated and mad in response to my death, but I hope they will take the frustration and madness and instead of demonstrating or anything of that type, I would hope that they would take the power and I would hope that five, ten, one hundred, a thousand would rise. I would like to see every gay lawyer, every gay architect come out, stand up and let the world know.
That would do more to end prejudice overnight than anybody could imagine. I urge them to do that, urge them to come out. Only that way will we start to achieve our rights. … All I ask is for the movement to continue, and if a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door…”
Harvey Milk was the first openly gay person to be elected as an official in California. Just being openly gay back then was a big deal because people were prejudiced against gay folks. He knew he was at risk because of his sexuality, and he thought he might be killed because of it.
These were some of his last words, where he showed how committed he was to fighting against homophobia while representing Americans. He wished that the bullet that would eventually kill him would also help gay people feel less afraid and able to be themselves.
18. This Is Water-David Foster Wallace
Speech:
“Our own present culture has harnessed these forces in ways that have yielded extraordinary wealth and comfort and personal freedom. The freedom all to be lords of our tiny skull-sized kingdoms, alone at the centre of all creation.
This kind of freedom has much to recommend it. But of course there are all different kinds of freedom, and the kind that is most precious you will not hear much talk about much in the great outside world of wanting and achieving…. The really important kind of freedom involves attention and awareness and discipline, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them over and over in myriad petty, unsexy ways every day.
That is real freedom. That is being educated, and understanding how to think. The alternative is unconsciousness, the default setting, the rat race, the constant gnawing sense of having had, and lost, some infinite thing.”
David Foster Wallace, a good writer, gave a very down-to-earth yet wise speech at Kenyon College in 2005. He talked about how important it is to learn to think beyond just getting a formal education.
He encouraged students to have open minds, care about others who need justice, and be aware of making good choices even when it's easy to follow the crowd. His speech touched the hearts of many young people who are ambitious and want to make a difference in the world.
19. Speech on Vietnam-Lyndon Johnson
Speech:
“The true peace-keepers are those men who stand out there on the DMZ at this very hour, taking the worst that the enemy can give. The true peace-keepers are the soldiers who are breaking the terrorist’s grip around the villages of Vietnam—the civilians who are bringing medical care and food and education to people who have already suffered a generation of war.
And so I report to you that we are going to continue to press forward. Two things we must do. Two things we shall do. First, we must not mislead the enemy. Let him not think that debate and dissent will produce wavering and withdrawal. For I can assure you they won’t. Let him not think that protests will produce surrender. Because they won’t. Let him not think that he will wait us out. For he won’t.
Second, we will provide all that our brave men require to do the job that must be done. And that job is going to be done. These gallant men have our prayers-have our thanks—have our heart-felt praise—and our deepest gratitude. Let the world know that the keepers of peace will endure through every trial—and that with the full backing of their countrymen, they are going to prevail.”
During the Vietnam War, American soldiers were having a hard time fighting Vietnamese fighters who used sneaky tactics. President Lyndon Johnson gave a speech to boost patriotism and show support for the soldiers who were risking their lives for the country.
20. The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action-Audre Lorde
Speech:
“I was going to die, if not sooner then later, whether or not I had ever spoken myself. My silences had not protected me. Your silence will not protect you. But for every real word spoken, for every attempt I had ever made to speak those truths for which I am still seeking, I had made contact with other women while we examined the words to fit a world in which we all believed, bridging our differences.
What are the words you do not have yet? What do you need to say? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of them, still in silence? Perhaps for some of you here today, I am the face of one of your fears. Because I am a woman, because I am black, because I am myself, a black woman warrior poet doing my work, come to ask you, are you doing yours?”
Audre Lorde, a writer, feminist, and civil rights activist, gave a great speech at a meeting in 1977. People remember it because it was wise and honest. She talked about how living on the fringes of society is tough for many who face discrimination.
She said it's important to speak up because staying quiet won't protect them from being treated even worse. Lorde's words remind people who are marginalized that they matter and can make a difference in a world where prejudice and division exist.
