Talk:List of speeches
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How do we decide which speeches are notable enough to be listed here? Kewpid 16:13, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
- Lack of disagreement is the apparent standard. So far we've been very agreeable. -Will Beback
I think the Chocolate City Speech isn't deserving to be placed alongside the Periclean Funeral Oration or Nehru's Tryst with Destiny, also the list is biased towards American speeches. I mean the Culture Wars speech is hardly as important as Paul Keating's 1993 Redfern Park Speech, which was really considered one of the first time a leading figure in Australian politics reconcilied with the aboriginal population.
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[edit] Would Edward Kennedy's 'Bork's America' speech Qualify?
I'd vote 'yes.' In addition to its remarkable efficacy in sabotaging Bork's bid for SCOTUS, it also presaged the modern era of hard-fought confirmation hearings and votes.
[edit] Removal
Should speeches without articles be removed? A speech without an article can't be that famous. I can understand for those that, after some time, we can look back and say "Yes, this speech definitely had an important impact", but most speeches without articles don't deserve their place. --A Sunshade Lust 02:33, 25 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Series of Tubes?!
Why is that on this list?
[edit] Salvaddor Allende
The former chilean president Salvador Allende most famous speech was "Se abrirán de nuevo las grandes alamedas" ("The greats avenues will open again") is one of the most famous speeches in Latinamerican History. Rakela 15:39, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
- I went ahead and added this one, as well as Mbeki's "I am an African". Also, Hitler was clearly one of the most talented speakers of the last century and there has to be at least one speech that was particularly notable. Mahatma Gandhi is also a contender, though an Indian would probably be better positioned to say which in particular sticks out. - BanyanTree 18:15, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Cross of Gold
The Cross of Gold speech (WJ Bryan) hardly seems significant to me. The issue is meaningless to the average person. It takes more than a couple of famous lines to make a great speech. The speech must be about some universal timeless theme of humanity, and the gold standard does not qualify.
[edit] Split the page...
I feel like this page would be better served if it were split into several pages, with the speeches broken up either by language, culture, nationality, or something else (although I would lean towards culture/nationality).
Simply put, a particular speech is only famous or noteworthy because of--and for--the culture in which the speech was given. For example, speaking to the unsigned comment, Paul Keating's 1993 Redfern Park Speech does sound incredibly important to Australians, but--to be perfectly honest--it means nothing to Americans. In the same way, FDR's "date which will live in infamy" speech or Nixon's "Checkers" speech are probably of little importance to Australians, though both are listed by American historians as among the top ten speeches of the 20th century. (See American Rhetoric.)
The importance of a speech, with a few exceptions, is limited to the culture--and language--in which it was given. Any attempt to lump all of these speeches together into one page is foolhardy and results in a collection of speeches so disjointed as to render it all but useless.
Yocko 09:45, 30 December 2006 (UTC)Yocko
But that's just my opinion...
[edit] Obama Address
Added the Obama 2004 Keynote Address - do people agree? I am trying not to be partisan, but I think the speech had one of the largest impacts of an individual speech in recent history.
I know it isn't a definitive source, but if you look at AmericanRhetoric.com, which is a site devoted to great speeches, it is one of the top five most requested - along with I Have A Dream, Pearl Harbor, Ballot or the Bullet, and JFK Inaugural. It's recognized as great oratory and came at a time when the Democrats were seen as lacking vision and Obama was virtually unknown.
Just want to make sure, since Obama's in the midst of his primary campaign, this isn't seen as a political addition. I'm for Bill Richardson, for what it's worth, but that's irrelevant to what the great speeches are. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by IceJew (talk • contribs) 22:22, 17 February 2007 (UTC). Just for the record - this HagermanBot is very useful, as I do often forget to sign my posts. IceJew 18:23, 18 February 2007 (UTC)
