Inspirational.

There have been a few things in my lifetime that have been inspirational to me. We have just celebrated again the speech of Martin Luther King at the Lincoln memorial. I remember watching many times Dr Martin Luther King and his 'I have a dream' speech. That was 50 years ago and I think it still stands the test of time. 

'I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!' 

There have been significant changes such as a black president of the US which I never thought would happen in my lifetime. 

Tragically, Dr Martin Luther King was assassinated. But the great thing about his speech is that his dream was eventually realised. Even though at the time he gave the speech it was just a dream. What greater legacy can a speech have?

Speaking of US Presidents, John Fitzgerald Kennedy gave a speech in Berlin at the height of the cold war which is remembered by many for a sound bite 'Ich bin ein Berliner' translated as 'I am a Berliner'. That was also 50 years ago and I think it still stands the test of time. Kennedy was reiterating the support of the west after East Germany erected the Berlin Wall to prevent mass emigration of East Germans to the West. Now the whole of Germany is reunited and Russia has changed beyond recognition. 

Tragically, President Kennedy was assassinated. But the great thing about his speech is that his dream was eventually realised. Even though at the time he he gave the speech it was just a dream. What greater legacy can a speech have?

But there were other inspirational speeches made long before I was born.

Gandhi spent a good part of his early life living in South Africa. On his return to his homeland of India. Gandhi swapped his western style of dress for the simple robes of a peasant. Until that time the campaign for independence was organised by a clique of intellectuals who copied the British manners. However, Gandhi saw this was a road to nowhere. When invited to speak at the opening of the Banaras Hindu University in front of an audience of princes in elegant robes, and other worthies, some of them British. A speech which is remembered by many for a sound bite.

'There is no salvation for India unless you strip yourselves of this jewellery and hold it in trust for your country men.'

His words outraged everybody present but it was a keynote speech in the struggle for Indian independence. The speech transformed the nature of the debate, and it was to turn Gandhi into the movement's spiritual leader. Despite the conflict that followed the declaration of Indian independence, his dream of an India free from colonial rule was achieved.

Tragically, Gandhi was assassinated. But the great thing about his speech is that his dream was eventually realised. Even though at the time he gave the speech it was just a dream. What greater legacy can a speech have?

A towering figure in our history was Oliver Cromwell. In his lifetime he was a politician and a military commander of note. Cromwell declared England a republic following the execution of Charles I. But he made his most powerful and inspirational speech when he dismissed the Rump Parliament. 

'It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonoured by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice. You are a pack of mercenary wretches. Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? You have no more religion than my horse. You sordid prostitutes, have you not defiled this sacred place. You are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation. Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors. In the name of God, go!'

I have often thought that the two greatest men to walk through the portal of Parliament were Oliver Cromwell and Guy Fawkes. Where are they when we need them most!