We’ve heard about Martin Luther King’s I Have A Dream speech, Churchill’s Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and Patrick Henry’s Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!
All great, grand, wonderful, and all that good stuff. But, I wasn’t alive during that time. So instead of putting together a master list of historical speeches, I’m going to list the most memorable speeches that have happened in my lifetime.
Some you’ll notice were given by fictional characters, okay, the vast majority, but so what!? It doesn’t change their awesomeness.
If you’re at work, notice the **N.S.F.W.** alert inside of a yellow bar above some of the speeches. This means “NOT SAFE FOR WORK.” Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Oh yeah, if you get offended easily, re-think your life. Let’s rock.
Here are the TOP 10 speeches that have happened during my lifetime:
1. President Thomas J. Whitmore
Folks...This is a classic speech that inspired the world to band together in order to defeat the aliens that tried to destroy our planet back in 1996. Thank goodness for President Whitmore. Trump is gonna need to build wall around the planet to keep those damned destructive aliens from coming back. "Today, we celebrate our Independence Day!"
2. William Wallace
Historically accurate, I'm sure of it! In Braveheart, William Wallace had to rally the Scots to fight the Brits. This is known as one of the best movie speeches of all times and I'd be a fool to disagree. Brad Pitt played the part to a T! I still get pumped listening to it.
3. Rocky Balboa
I hope one day I get a chance to take my kids down a peg or two like this! Rocky's ungrateful son tries to blame Rocky for his crappy life, but instantly regrets it. This speech has everything you'd expect from a Rocky movie. I even added it to my workout mix.
4. Coach Tony D'Amato
Al Pacino is not messing around in Any Given Sunday. He somehow relates a football game to being prepared to "die for an inch." Pretty intense and more akin to something I'd expect from him in Scarface. But hey, it motivated the team so I'm not gonna argue.
**N.S.F.W.** (One measly F-Bomb)
5. Lt. Aldo Raine
Lt. Aldo Raine, apparently a direct descendant of the mountain man Jim Bridger (whoever the hell that is), gives an electrifying, murder inciting speech that was one of the best scenes in Inglorious Basterds. Believable and awesomely dark. Actor Brad Pi...wait a minute...if this is Brad Pitt then who's the guy from Braveheart??? Ah whatever, just watch.
**N.S.F.W.**
6. Blake (Last name unknown)
Alec Baldwin, in the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, gives one hell of a politically incorrect speech. He delivers every insult imaginable to this group of sales wimps. Would you have been motivated? Or would you have went home crying? I'm still debating that myself. Just remember, "Coffee's for closers only."
**DEFINITELY N.S.F.W.**
7. President Frank Underwood
I like my politicians like this guy because we get to see the behind-the-scenes "truth" which is sadly, and frighteningly, probably pretty accurate to the real scum..err, I mean career politicians that we have now. From the Netflix series House of Cards, the only thing inaccurate about this speech compared to real life is that he tells Americans this: "You are entitled to nothing." It's not that the phrase is inaccurate, it's just NO president would ever have the balls to say it.
8. Morpheus
Morpheus once again Red-Pilling the people of Zion with some serious inspiration. What other choice did he have considering they were about to be attacked by the Machines? This speech was from movie The Matrix Reloaded and let's just say I took a "sick" day during senior year in high school to see this bad boy in theaters. Sorry mom and dad.
9. Narcotics Officer Alonzo Harris
King Kong ain't got nothin' on this speech. Denzel Washington producing gold as usual in the movie Training Day. When I think back to when this movie first came out, this is the scene that comes to mind. It might be a little different than what you'd think of as a "speech," but he's got an audience, so I'd say it qualifies.
**N.S.F.W.**
10. Ron Paul
Wow, in a crazy turn of events, here's a speech that actually happened in real life. This speech took place on the House Floor to Congress in 2009. The speech from former U.S. Representative of Texas, Ron Paul, is known as What If? Let's listen in:
Conclusion:
A nice variety, right? I thought so. It's important to remember speeches of the past, but let's not forget that we have a lot of good contemporary speakers. I also wonder if famous speeches of the past weren't actually elevated to the level of godliness until many years later.
In Fox Mulder I trust.
Some day these ones might be just as famous. Especially the one from President Whitmore, I suspect we'll be visited again. Ain't that right, Mulder?
Got a better speech? Post a comment below. Oh yeah, share this post.
About this guy...
Howdy! My name is Matt Kramer and I used to suffer excruciating death when speaking in front of a group, now I LOVE it. Overcoming this fear has changed my life and it can change yours, too. My focus is to help you overcome the fear of public speaking so you can build the confidence to go after what you want in life.