I find it important to take time to listen to or read meaningful speeches, sage insight or hopeful messages from “the days of yore.”
I find that the wisdom, perspectives or approaches presented then are as meaningful and poignant now, if not more.
Whether it’s a passionate decree by Teddy Roosevelt to quit living life from the sidelines to Ronald Reagan’s comforting words after the devastating Challenger Shuttle explosion; or C.S. Lewis making the complex seem simple to Dr. King’s timeless charge to care about others’ content of character above all else; from the wonder illustrated by JFK’s endeavor to get to the moon to one of Paul Harvey’s artfully illustrated storytelling; or from the unparalleled, perfect Sermon on the Mount to just an engaging conversation, it’s all gold and can enrich us more than we know.
The curated list below doesn’t even scratch the surface of the eloquence we’ve been afforded over time, but it’s a start.
So, if you’ll indulge me, below is a short list of the spoken/penned word that I have found meaningful. I hope this inspires you to curate your own list too.
* C.S. Lewis’ exhortation on How we are to live in an Atomic Age.
* The Gettysburg Address by our 16th president.
* Moonshot speech by JFK where he famously says, “We choose to go to the moon not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard…”
* If I were the Devil by Paul Harvey, of course, concluded with his trademark “Good day!”
* Teddy R’s “Arena” speech (one of the inspirations behind The Arena Disciplina)
* Ronald Reagan’s speech after the Challenger 7 Shuttle explosion. Excerpt: “The future doesn’t belong to the faint-hearted, it belongs to the brave.”
* The timeless I Have a Dream speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
* Queen Elizabeth’s humility shown in her coronation speech 1953
If you’re like me, you’ll glean some practical, meaningful nuggets of wisdom that you can pack down into your “arsenal of wisdom” to refer to later.
Speech isn’t just a speech.
Speech is an art, in many ways (or rather a lost art, in a lot of ways), of sharing ideas, describing emotions, presenting robust thought, collaborating towards a shared goal, getting inspired to achieve things bigger than ourselves, questioning tough answers and answering tough questions.
I hope you devote some time to listen to or read the attached links. You definitely won’t be sorry, and you very well could become a little better for it.
