We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness – not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there’s room for everyone and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone.
The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.
Greed has poisoned men’s souls – has barricaded the world with hate – has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind.
We think too much and feel too little.
More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness.
Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.
The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in man – cries for universal brotherhood – for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world – millions of despairing men, women, and little children – victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.
To those who can hear me, I say: ‘Do not despair.’ The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed – the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people.
And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.
Charlie Chaplin ‘The Great Dictator
Recently I watched the ‘The Great Dictator
I know some rate it as one of the cinema ‘greats, but frankly I almost fell asleep! As a slice of history, though, it’s a superb film to watch. Chaplin said that he wouldn’t have made the film if he’d known about the concentration camps. He made it in 1940 before the world had discovered the terrible fate of so many.
At the end of the film Chaplin makes a long speech which somehow struck a chord with me. It seems to be one of those timeless speeches that could apply as much today as it did in 1940. The technology has changed a little, the players on the world stage have changed, but it still carries a powerful message for us.
And today, of all days, is one when we remember with terrible clarity what human beings are capable of when they forget these things.
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I’ve never seen the movie, but that speech is truly inspiring. And just as you’ve said, it’s equally true today as it was back then. That’s very powerful, and very inspiring. Thank you so much for sharing this, as I never would have found it otherwise.
Fantastic post. I couldn’t agree more with the idea that we think too much and feel too little. This is actually something I’m working on a lot in therapy so this post was really great for me today. Thanks!
Thanks for introducing me to this, Ian.
“In this world there’s room for everyone and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone.”
I love this line (above).
I have especially noticed over the past few months the timeless-ness of many of our current struggles.
Thanks for this post and the message it brings.
“More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness.”
Well said!
We can all relate to this. And yet . . . it is still happening.
As Krishnamurti said (from memory so not exact): We say we love children, but wars still exist.
It seems to me that the link is missing. The need to have collective structures that are non-violent. We manage to do this unofficially – our friendships and so on. But formal structures that are non-violent and scale seem to be the big challenge.
One better way I think is sociocracy.
I do not know if there’s any hope for us human to feel more than to follow a system that does disparity more than unity. Our greed for power, dominance and wealth has blinded our hearts to the true purpose of our existence.
Perhaps the vices of man will continue until man itself is destroyed.
Ian,
What a great speech. I haven’t heard of this movie either but like you say what he says can easily be applied today. There is enough room for everyone and we want to live by each others happiness. I entirely agree.
Hi Ian,
Great speach and it is so true. I have been thinking a lot about this subject recently. It seems that people have become so afraid that they have forgotten that they are part of a community and a society. So often it seems that people do things without having any awareness of the implications.
Society has become so scared. I have watched people lose their tempers over stupid things and all I can think of is how they look like animals and not humans (and this is coming from a vegan). It is not so much that people think too much, it is that they are so enslaved by fear they have forgotten about their hearts.
Hope all is well with you, my friend.
Hi Ian, you are very right when you say that the speech is equally true today as it was in 1940. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even realize that it was a quote at first, and I thought you were talking about the current state of the world. The mentioning of radio and the aeroplane, however, clued me in that it was a speech from the past… lol.
We definitely need more humanity. I’m in the process of transitioning from working in a television studio to doing “real” working again, such as preparing food at a restaurant. Let me tell you this, I feel SO much more alive in this change, and I think that people need to re-evaluate what it means to be human, and to embrace what makes us who we are.
@Jay I was surprised by the movie .. never expected something like that from Chaplin!
@Dani You’re welcome. Happy it came at a good time for you.
@Lori I guess there’s many things we still haven’t worked out yet, despite generations of trying. These things will continue to be timeless until we do!
@Evan I didn’t realise you were an advocate of sociocracy .. I’m delighted to hear that – I’m a huge fan myself and have worked with it a little.
@Walter You may be right, of course. Personally I take a more optimistic view of our future.
@Sherri Would be great if everyone saw the world in the same way!
@Nadia I’ve also been thinking about this – especially the loss of community. I hardly know any of my neighbours and feel much more part of the community of bloggers I interact with. I think in strong communities there is less fear.
@Trey
the only change then to bring the speech up to date would be to replace ‘radio’ with ‘internet’! It’s quite striking how little society has changed in the last 70 years.
hai ds is sohaib here.da speech is nice.what i think is that there must b imlimentation of positive thoughts.basicaly v r da people of words nd there is no practiclty at al.
sohaib again, acrdng to me there must b practicalty wd da thoughts nd words. i would lik to justify my point with an example. supos there is an m.b.b.s doctor.who hav cmplete knowledge about his profession but if he cant cure da disease,his knowledge nd degree worth nthng, bcz there is no advnage to humanity. in a nut shel, one must try to put da thoughts n words into positive implimentation. sohaib sining off.bye tc.n thanx!
Hi Sohaib. I deleted the phone number you left in the comment – hope you don’t mind. I agree that we need to have both fine words and practicality.