Book review of "World Classic English Speech"

Overall 9.1 points, this book is a Chinese and English comparative reading, editor-in-chief Zhou Ming, Wang Yun also aims to help people who love to learn English through this book, but unfortunately I only read Chinese part, the reason for choosing this book is not him, that is, other similar speech collection books are too official, and the speeches included are too political. And my dedication to the speech may still be stuck in the junior high school Martin Luther King Jr. "I Have a Dream", the morning reading time, the other students are reciting the text, and I mixed in the crowd, reading this catchy and inspiring speech aloud, like a monarch doing the last encouragement to the soldiers of the expedition. Remember to this day.

The book begins with Socrates, and by the end of Mo Yan, the speech itself will make you feel a sense of excitement in the classroom of these great people, the sacred mood of the sages. The book begins with a celebrity profile that provides a concise introduction to the speaker's life history and the reason for the speech. Here are some excerpts of your favorite sentences to enjoy together:

1. Socrates:

If we think differently, we have every reason to believe that death is a good thing; that there are only two possibilities: death is either a state of nothingness and unconsciousness, or, as has been said, the change and migration of the soul from this life to the next. Imagine that there is no consciousness, but sleeping like a dreamless person, then death is an indescribable benefit. If one picks a sleepless night, compare it to other days and nights, and then tell us how many days and nights will be better and more comfortable than this night. I believe that anyone, not to mention ordinary people, even the most prominent emperors, will find that such days are few and far between. Since death is of this nature, I say that death is harvest— because eternity is nothing more than a night of slumber.

If death is a journey elsewhere, and it is said that there are all the undead living there, friends and judges and gentlemen, what better thing than this? If the pilgrim could indeed reach Hades, he would escape from earthly judgments and face the real judges who were rumored to have given them... This pilgrimage is indeed worth it.

2. Patrick Henry

I admire more than anyone the patriotism and insight of the gentlemen who have just spoken in Parliament. But perceptions of the same thing often vary from person to person. Therefore, even though my views are very different from those of them, I will speak out without scruples and without reservation, hoping that this will not be considered disrespectful to the gentlemen. Now is not the time for politeness, but the question before the delegates is a matter of national survival. I think this is a big question of whether to enjoy freedom or to be enslaved. Given the magnitude of the stakes, our debate should allow for the expression of opinion. Only in this way can we find out the truth of things and not dishonor the great mission entrusted to us by God and the motherland. At such a time, if I am silent for fear of offending your dignity, I will consider myself a betrayal of my homeland and a disloyalty to a God who is more holy than any monarch in the world.

Mr. Speaker, it is human nature to have the illusion of hope. We are easily reluctant to face up to the painful reality, and we are seduced by the song of the Siren and allow her to turn us into beasts. Is this a rational act in the uphill struggle for freedom? Are we willing to be people who turn a blind eye and turn a deaf ear to such a matter of great concern?

As far as I am concerned, no matter how much mental pain I am, I am still willing to know the whole truth and the worst of things, and to be fully prepared for it. I have only one guiding light, and that is the lamp of experience. I have no other way to judge the future than past experience. And on the basis of past experience, I wonder how what the British Government has done over the past decade is enough to give gentlemen reason to comfort themselves and Parliament with hope? Could it be the sly smile that we recently received when we accepted our petition? Do not believe this smile, gentlemen, it has proven to be a trap at your feet. Don't be betrayed by the kisses of others! Ask yourself, how can the kindness and goodwill in accepting our petition be commensurate with the large-scale war readiness that pervades our land and sea territories? Is it necessary to use warships and armies out of love and reconciliation with us? Have we ever expressed a desire never to reconcile, so much so that we must resort to force in order to win back our love? Let's stop fooling ourselves, gentlemen. These were instruments of war and conquest, the last means of argument taken by the king. I ask gentlemen, what can these war arrangements mean if they are not intended to force us to comply? Which gentleman can point to other motives? Is there any other enemy in this corner of the world that deserves to be so mobilized by Great Britain and to assemble a huge army of land and sea?

Is life so precious, and peace so sweet, that it is worth the price of shackles and enslavement? Almighty God, stop them from doing this! I don't know how others will behave; as for me, I am not free, rather than die!

3. Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794), one of the important leaders of the French Revolution and the de facto head of the Jacobin government.

How can a man who is loyal to his country hope to live again when he can no longer serve his country and can no longer save innocent people from persecution?

Ask history for advice and see how all the defenders of liberty have been slandered in all ages. But those who slander will eventually die. The good and the wicked are also to disappear from the world, but the situation is very different after death.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), the 16th President of the United States.

Eighty and seven years ago, my ancestors built a new kingdom on this continent, born of freedom and committed to the belief that all mortals are born equal.

Now we are drawn into a great civil war to test whether this kingdom, or anyone who has been based and dedicated to it, can be immortalized. We are now on a vast battlefield in this battle. And we will dedicate this part of the battlefield as the final resting place for those who have given their lives to the other so that the kingdom can barely survive. This is a perfectly appropriate and appropriate act for all of us.

But, in a greater sense, we cannot devote ourselves, we cannot offer, we cannot fulfill the holiness of this land. This group of brave men, whether alive or dead, fought to the end in Yusi, had long since made it sacred, far more than the humble power of our people could increase or decrease. In this world, I have not paid the slightest attention to it, nor have I remembered for a long time what I have said, but I have never forgotten what the other person did here. We who are born, of course, dedicate ourselves to the unfinished business of this generation. It is our duty here to dedicate ourselves to the great mission before us: from the glorious place of the dead we shoulder our ultimate devotion— and we hereby promise the death of the dead not in vain— that this kingdom, under God's blessing, should enjoy a new birth of freedom—a government of the people, ruled by the people, and enjoyed by the people, shall be spared from withering.

Pierre de Coube-rtin (1863-1937), French educator, historian and initiator of the modern Olympic movement.

Gentlemen, the Greek tradition is so rich that all the categories of sports that modern people think of can be traced back to Greece and are included in it. Some see it as training to defend the nation, others seek physical beauty and health through the balance of spirit and flesh, and still others want to attain a slight sense of drunkenness in the blood—a feeling that is only so intense and beautiful in physical exercise.

For, gentlemen, man does not consist only of two parts, body and soul, but three parts: body, mind and character; character is determined not by thought, but primarily by the body. The ancients knew this, and we are painfully reacquainted with it.

William Faulkner (1897-1962), the most important Southern writer in the United States and one of the most important writers in the history of literature, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949. He used the money he received to establish one of the most important fiction awards in the United States, the International PEN/Faulkner Prize for Fiction

Our tragedy today is that there is a widespread physical fear that has existed for so long that we can all endure it. There are no longer spiritual problems. The only question is: When will I be blown to pieces? Because of this, the young men and women who are engaged in writing today have forgotten the conflicts of the human heart, and only by being exposed to this inner conflict can they write good works, because this is the only thing worth writing, worth writing with all their heart.

He must re-recognize these issues. He must make himself understand that there is nothing more despicable in the world than fear; he must make himself forever forget fear, and that nothing else can be allowed in the studio but the ancient truths of his heart. Without this ancient universal truth, any novel is short-lived and doomed to failure—the truths of love, honor, mercy, self-esteem, compassion, sacrifice. If he couldn't do that, his strength would be in vain. He writes not about love but about lust; the failure he writes about is a failure in which no one feels the loss of something precious; the victory he writes about is a triumph without hope, not even pity or sympathy. He was not grieving over a death of universal significance, so he could not leave a deep trace. He is not writing about the mind but about the organs

7. Steve Jobs (1955-2011), co-founder and former CEO of Apple. In 1985, he was awarded the National Medal of Technology by President Reagan and holds 313 patents for inventions. The electronics it created changed the world

In this class, I learned about various fonts, how to change the word spacing between different font combinations, and how to make beautiful typography. It's a beauty that science can never capture, full of beauty, history, and art, and I find it so interesting.

You have to find out what you love the most, and this is true for your lover, and it is also true for finding a job. Your work will take up a large part of your life. You can only be comfortable if you believe that what you are doing is great work. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't stop. Like all things that concern the mind, you will know it as soon as you find it. Like any sincere relationship, it will only get closer and closer as the years go by. So keep looking until you find it. Don't stop.

For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, "If today were the end of my life, would I still be willing to do what I would have done today?" "When the answer was no for days, I knew it was time to change.

Because almost everything—all the outside expectations, all the fame, all the fear of embarrassment or failure—disappears in the face of death, only what really matters remains

No one wants to die; even those who want to go to heaven want to go in alive. Death is the terminus of each of us, and no one can be an exception. Life is like this, because death is probably the best creation of life, it is the medium of life change, sending away the elderly and making way for the new generation.

Your time is limited, so don't waste time living someone else's life. Don't be limited by dogma – to blindly follow dogma is to live in the result of other people's thinking. Don't let the clamor of others drown out your inner voice. Most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and instincts, which somehow know what kind of person you actually want to be. Everything else is secondary.

Barack Obama (1961) was a Democratic politician and the first African-American president in U.S. history. Less than a year after his election, he was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for "extraordinary efforts to enhance international diplomacy and people-to-people cooperation."

We continue this journey. The United States remains the most prosperous and powerful country in the world. The crisis has not weakened the productivity of our workers, we still have creative minds, and our goods and services are still favored as they were last week, last month, or even the previous year. Our capabilities have not been diminished. But the days of conformism, small profits, and refusal to make difficult decisions are over. From today onwards, we must lift ourselves up, sweep away the haze in our hearts, and once again devote ourselves to the work of reorganizing the country.

Now, some people question whether our goal is too big — they say our system can't afford too much grand planning. They are too forgetful. For they have forgotten what this country has achieved, they have forgotten the energy that a free people can exert when imagination is combined with a common goal, the necessity of the situation and the courage of will.

9. Mo Yan (1955- ), formerly known as Guan Moye, is a famous contemporary Chinese writer. His works are influenced by magic realism, and most of them are set in Gaomi Northeast Township to outline legends. Mo Yan is also regarded as a representative figure of "root-seeking literature" and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2012.

One of the most memorable things is that one mid-autumn festival noon, our family rarely wrapped a meal of dumplings, only one bowl per person. Just as we were eating dumplings, a begging old man came to our door, and I took half a bowl of dried sweet potatoes to send him, but he said indignantly: "I am an old man, you eat dumplings, but let me eat dried sweet potatoes." How did your heart grow? I said angrily, "We can't eat dumplings a few times a year, one person and a small bowl, not even half full!" It would be nice to give you dried sweet potatoes. If you want it, don't just roll! "My mother reprimanded me, and then took her half bowl of dumplings and poured them into the old man's bowl.

One of the things I regret the most is that I followed my mother to sell cabbage, and intentionally or unintentionally overcounted an old man who bought cabbage for a dime. After calculating the money, I went to school. When I came home from school, I saw my mother, who rarely shed tears, in tears. My mother didn't scold me, but said softly, "Son, you have disgraced your mother."

I know that in everyone's heart there is a hazy area where it is difficult to accurately characterize right and wrong, good and evil, and this area is the vast world where literary artists display their talents. As long as it accurately and vividly depicts this obscure area full of contradictions, it will inevitably transcend politics and possess the quality of excellent literature.

When everyone is crying, some people should be allowed not to cry. When crying becomes a performance, it is more important to allow some people not to cry.