In 1588, English monarch Queen Elizabeth I gave one of the manliest speeches in history in spite of, at one point, putting down her own body for being female. Learn More Queen Elizabeth I 1588 “Spanish Armada” speech t o the troops at Tilbury Common / Wikimedia You have not been vanquished, you have never even stirred. As it is, Philip has conquered your indolence and your indifference but he has not conquered Athens. “You are in your present plight because you do not do any part of your duty, small or great for of course, if you were doing all that you should do, and were still in this evil case, you could not even hope for any improvement.

At the end of his speech, delivered in 341 BCE, the Athenian Assembly moved at once against their rival, spurred on by lines damning the past inaction of his fellow citizens: Demosthenes’ Third Philippic, so-called because it was the third speech he gave devoted to convincing his fellow Athenians to take up arms against the encroaching forces of Phillip of Macedon, literally led men to war.

Though you may not have heard of the Athenian orator Demosthenes, consider the fact that one of history’s most famed speakers of all time, Cicero, cited his ancient forebear 300 years later. Learn More Demosthenes 341 BCE Third Philippic Commons / Wikimedia “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” 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 say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. His words were no mere rhetoric they were an affirmation of the value of human life and the expression of a cause for which he would give his own. King would be dead by an assassin’s bullet less than five years after delivering his most famous speech. Gloves up, here are the 12 best boxing matches of all time Ranking the 10 best Dustin Hoffman movies of all time The 12 best thriller movies that stand the test of time

Manuscript speech script