History Main / PatrickStewartSpeech

* Jean-Luc Picard of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', multiple times.

* Death actually gets one in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Discworld/ReaperMan''. He stands before Azrael, his boss, and basically tells him that humanity ''deserves'' a Death that will care for them, rather than a simple blind force.

* Kim Basinger's character gives one at the end of ''Film/MyStepmotherIsAnAlien''. She presents Jimmy Durante as her "jelly donut".
* ''Film/TheFellowshipOfTheRing'': Boromir's speech to Aragorn, shortly before the Breaking of the Fellowship. Though not a straight subversion of this trope, the story demonstrates a few scenes later that the reality of human nature is [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism uglier than Boromir's speech makes it out to be]].

[[folder:Mythology & Religion]]

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. Q gives a heartfelt speech when he's about to be executed in " [[{{Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS3E10TheQAndTheGrey}} The Q and the Grey]]", but as the other members of the Continuum know all-too-well that he's an irresponsible JerkAss they're not impressed.

->''"Oh, I know ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}''. And what he might say with [[SarcasmMode irony]], I say with [[SincerityMode conviction]]: 'What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty! In form, in moving, how express and admirable! In action, how like an angel! In apprehension, how like a god!'"''

-->'''Vision:''' Humans ''are'' odd. They think order and chaos are somehow opposites, and try to control what won't be. But there is grace in their failings. I think you missed that.

-->'''Vision:''' Yes. ...But a thing isn't beautiful because it lasts. It's a privilege to be among them.

--->'''Wilf:''' We must look like ants to you!\\

** Inverted in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E2TheBeastBelow The Beast Below]]". "Nobody HUMAN has anything to say to me today!" And then the inversion itself gets subverted, when [[spoiler:the Doctor's brand-new ''human'' companion intuits the true nature of the situation, which the Doctor has failed to do, and intervenes just in time to stop him making a mistake for which he'd never be able to forgive himself.]]

** Played straight (and nicely so) in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E4ThePowerOfThree The Power of Three]]", when the Doctor confronts the Shakri, who believe that, to maintain "The Tally" humanity must be wiped out:
--->"So. Here you are, depositing slug pellets all over the earth. Made attractive, so humans will collect them, hoping to find something beautiful inside. Because that's what they are. Not pests or plague, creatures of hope. Forever building and reaching. Making mistakes of course. Every life form does. But. But— they learn. And they strive for greater and they achieve it. You want a tally. Put their achievements against their failings, through the whole of time. I will back humanity against the Shakri every time."

This will lead into the hero responding with the Patrick Stewart Speech, in which he may concede that humans are weak (at least for the moment), but there is much that is noble about humanity as well. He notes that they have much potential, and he admires humans' capacity for [[ThePowerOfLove love]] / [[ThePowerOfFriendship friendship]] / [[AFriendInNeed loyalty]] / [[HeroicSpirit courage]] / [[{{Determinator}} persistence]] / whatever virtue it is the writers want to {{Aesop}}. If you hear the sentences "There is much that we could learn from them," or "We were NotSoDifferent, once," you're likely in the midst of a Patrick Stewart Speech.

!!Examples

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[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

** Particularly "Ordinary, stupid, brilliant PEOPLE" in comparison to the emotionless Cybermen in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E6TheAgeOfSteel The Age of Steel]]".

"[[spoiler:So much bigger on the inside]]."

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->''"Oh, I know ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}''. And what he might say with irony, I say with conviction: 'What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty! In form, in moving, how express and admirable! In action, how like an angel! In apprehension, how like a god!'"''

* Parodied in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', where Nibbler gladly describes planet Earth as "homeworld of the pizza-bagel". Presumably, other cultures invented pizza and/or bagels ([[AlienLunch or foods similar to them]]), but only humanity had ever thought of combining them.

*** In a narrow sense, these can be viewed as the trope-codifying (or at least trope-defining) moments, as "Encounter at Farpoint" was ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'''s pilot episode ([[CaptainObvious and of course these lines were spoken by the trope-namer himself]]).

See also KirkSummation, WorldOfCardboardSpeech, and IntriguedByHumanity. Contrast ShutUpKirk and ShamingTheMob. Compare SoBadItsGood.

'''SF Debris:''' And somewhere, Q is laughing, and quoting those lines from ''Hamlet'' with all the irony with which they were intended.\\

* In ''Literatue/{{Pact}}'', Johannes Lillegard, one of the most powerful human practitioners around, gives one of these to the Girl in the Checkered Scarf, a younger practitioner whose name was stolen by TheFairFolk, explaining that in spite of setbacks like that, humanity is ultimately winning the war against the supernatural thanks to the existence of TheMasquerade, which has allowed them to advance past many of the concepts that supernatural creatures attached themselves too and breed faster than the supernatural can kill them. [[WellIntentionedExtremist He then goes on to explain how he plans to further mitigate the amount of damage the more powerful Others can do by letting them pay him to torture copies of children that he's made in his domain.]]

-->-- '''Jean-Luc Picard''', ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', "[[{{Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E9HideAndQ}} Hide and Q]]"

* In ''Anime/StellviaOfTheUniverse'', Masaru's personal CrowningMomentOfAwesome is a Patrick Stewart Speech broadcast to the entirety of humanity from a space station about to be crushed by a cosmic cataclysm. [[spoiler:He survives.]]

* [[spoiler:The Vision]] delivers one to Ultron at the end of ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' when the latter asks why the former would bother protecting them. Ultron is unamused.

* ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron:'' Vision delivers one to the film's BigBad, Ultron:
-->'''Vision:''' Humans ''are'' odd. They think order and chaos are somehow opposites, and try to control what won't be. But there is grace in their failings. I think you missed that.
-->'''Ultron:''' They're doomed.
-->'''Vision:''' Yes. ...But a thing isn't beautiful because it lasts. It's a privilege to be among them.

* Professor Xavier of the ''Comicbook/XMen'', multiple times.

** The Doctor attempts one in [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion The Christmas Invasion]]", but because [[ResurrectionSickness he's still loopy from regeneration sickness]], realizes halfway in that his impassioned plea is [[WaxingLyrical actually the lyrics]] to "The Circle of Life" from ''Disney/TheLionKing''.

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[[folder: Live Action TV]]
* In ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E19APrivateLittleWar}} A Private Little War]]", Kirk beat Picard to it, pointing out how humanity was once like Tyree's people and in time they too could emerge as a peace loving, intelligent society.
* Jean-Luc Picard of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', multiple times.
** LampShaded in the episode "[[{{Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E6TrueQ}} True Q]]":
---> '''Q''': [[FoeYay Jean-Luc]]... Sometimes I think the only reason I come here is to listen to these wonderful speeches of yours.
** Subverted in the episode "[[{{Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E3CodeOfHonor}} Code of Honor]]". Picard is talking about how wonderful humanity is, then breaks off and says, "forgive me, this is becoming a speech." Troi replies, "You're the captain, you're entitled." Picard then says "I'm not entitled to ramble on about something everyone knows." While looking almost directly at the camera.
** "[[{{Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E1EncounterAtFarpoint}} Encounter at Farpoint]]" is Q stating HumansAreMorons, with Picard shooting back ShutUpHannibal lines and Q returning ShutUpKirk lines.
*** In a narrow sense, these can be viewed as the trope-codifying (or at least trope-defining) moments, as "Encounter at Farpoint" was ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'''s pilot episode ([[CaptainObvious and of course these lines were spoken by the trope-namer himself]]).
** WebSite/SFDebris theorises that Q introduced humanity to the Borg, which resulted in Picard getting assimilated and becoming obsessed with revenge against them (culminating in ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact''), as a response to this.
--> '''Picard:''' ...and I will make them pay for what they've done!
--> '''SF Debris:''' And somewhere, Q is laughing, and quoting those lines from ''Hamlet'' with all the irony with which they were intended.
--> Q is ''directly responsible'' for humanity's first encounter with the Borg, flinging the Enterprise halfway across the galaxy and directly into the path of a Borg Cube ''just to make a point.''
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'':
** Subverted in an episode. After a baseball grudge match between our heroes and a crew of [[StrawVulcan Vulcans]], a pissing match ensues. The various aliens in the crew balk after the Vulcan disses human emotion.
--->'''Ezri Dax:''' Did I forget to wear my spots today?\\
'''Quark:''' All that intelligence and he still doesn't know what a human looks like![[note]]Only 5 of the 11 members of the team were human.[[/note]]
** Also Quark gives such a speech in defence of the Ferengi:
--->'''Quark:''' The way I see it, hew-mons used to be a lot like Ferengi: greedy, acquisitive, interested only in profit. We're a constant reminder of a part of your past you'd like to forget. But you're overlooking something: Hew-mons used to be a lot ''worse'' than the Ferengi. Slavery. Concentration camps. Interstellar wars. We have nothing in our past that approaches that kind of barbarism. You see? We're nothing like you. We're ''better''.
** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] when Sisko is forced to give one of these during the pilot episode ("Emissary"). For one, he's actually standing up for all races of the Alpha Quadrant, not just humans. But the real trick is that the aliens to whom he must give this speech (or die!) lack any familiarity with some of the basic concepts necessary for a Patrick Stewart Speech to work. Primarily, they exist outside of time, and so don't even understand the concept of ''cause and effect''!
* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. Q gives a heartfelt speech when he's about to be executed in " [[{{Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS3E10TheQAndTheGrey}} The Q and the Grey]]", but as the other members of the Continuum know all-too-well that he's an irresponsible JerkAss they're not impressed.
* The Doctor, of ''Series/DoctorWho'', multiple times; particularly "Ordinary, stupid, brilliant PEOPLE" in comparison to the emotionless Cybermen in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E6TheAgeOfSteel The Age of Steel]]"; and his "indomitable" speeches in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E2TheArkInSpace The Ark in Space]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E11Utopia Utopia]]".
** The Doctor attempts one in [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion The Christmas Invasion]]", but because [[ResurrectionSickness he's still loopy from a botched regeneration]], realizes half-way in that his impassioned plea is [[WaxingLyrical actually the lyrics]] to "The Circle of Life" from ''Disney/TheLionKing''.
-->'''The Doctor:''' But the point still stands! Leave them alone!
** The Doctor has also commented on humanity's genius with confectionery, from jelly babies to edible ball bearings.
** Inverted in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E2TheBeastBelow The Beast Below]]", Season 5, Episode 2 of the new series. "Nobody HUMAN has anything to say to me today!" And then the inversion itself gets subverted, when [[spoiler:the Doctor's brand-new ''human'' companion intuits the true nature of the situation, which the Doctor has failed to do, and intervenes just in time to stop him making a mistake for which he'd never be able to forgive himself.]]
** Another, very touching one, in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime The End of Time]]". He tells Wilfred Mott that he's 900 years old, to which the old man remarks:
--> '''Wilf:''' We must look like ants to you!
--> '''The Doctor:''' I think you look like ''giants''.
** Inverted with the Ninth Doctor who often expressed his frustration with humans as "stupid apes".
** {{Deconstructed}} along with several other ''Doctor Who'' tropes in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E10Midnight Midnight]]," when the MonsterOfTheWeek is an unknown entity possessing a woman on a bus, and the Doctor is [[ShamingTheMob trying to keep the other passengers]] from [[ThrownOutTheAirlock throwing her out into the planet's deadly sunlight]]; for once, he's drastically misjudged his audience and his ability to influence them.
--->'''The Doctor:''' For all we know that's a brand-new form of life over there, and if it's come inside to discover us then what's it found? This little bunch of humans, what do you amount to? Murder? 'Cause this is where you decide, you decide who you are. Could you actually murder her? Any of you? Really? Or are you better than that?\\
''[pause]''\\
'''The Hostess:''' I'd do it.\\
'''Mr. Cane:''' So would I.\\
'''Mrs. Cane:''' And me.\\
'''Dee Dee:''' [[FromBadToWorse I think we should.]]
** "The Ark in Space": "Homo sapiens. What an inventive, invincible species. It’s only a few million years since they crawled up out of the mud and learned to walk. Puny, defenceless bipeds. They’ve survived flood, famine and plague. They’ve survived cosmic wars and holocausts. And now, here they are, out among the stars, waiting to begin a new life. Ready to outsit eternity. They’re indomitable."
** Even [[spoiler:the TARDIS herself]] gets in on it in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E4TheDoctorsWife The Doctor's Wife]]":
---> "Are all people like this?"
---> "Like what?"
---> "[[spoiler:So much bigger on the inside]]."
** Played straight (and nicely so) in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E4ThePowerOfThree The Power of Three]]", when the Doctor confronts the Shakri, who believe that, to maintain "The Tally" humanity must be wiped out:
--->"So. Here you are, depositing slug pellets all over the earth. Made attractive, so humans will collect them, hoping to find something beautiful inside. Because that's what they are. Not pests or plague, creatures of hope. Forever building and reaching. Making mistakes of course. Every life form does. But. But— they learn. And they strive for greater and they achieve it. You want a tally. Put their achievements against their failings, through the whole of time. I will back humanity against the Shakri every time."
** Played straight again in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E12DeathInHeaven Death in Heaven]]" when the Doctor addresses a crowd that contains Missy and the army of Cybermen she's just raised [[spoiler: including Danny]].
--->"I really didn't know. I wasn't sure. You lose sight sometimes. Thank you! I am ''not'' a good man! I am not a bad man. I am not a hero. And I'm definitely not a president. And no, I'm not an officer. Do you know what I am? I am an idiot, with a box and a screwdriver. Just passing through, helping out, learning. I don't need an army. I never have, because I've got them. Always them. Because love, it's not an emotion. Love is a promise. And ''he'' will never hurt ''her''. P E, catch!"
* In ''Series/{{Outcasts}}'', the rather Picard-esqe Richard Tate, President of the Human colony on the planet Carpathia, confronts a mysterious alien race only known as the Host Force. They communicate with him through [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith a vision of himself]].
--> '''Host Force:''' Your species is a brutal and destructive one. And less significant in the universe, than a single bacteria, on a coral reef.
--> '''Richard Tate:''' Maybe, but we have one thing you appear to have lost on your evolution to disembodied know-it-all. We may be frayed at the edges, but we still have love. And while we have that, we still have hope.
* Commander Adama in the 2003 miniseries of ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' does a subversion. Rather than give a sappy speech at the Battlestar's decommissioning he asks "Is humanity worth saving?" A pertinent question considering the incoming genocide by humanity's rogue robotic children.
** And he stops just short of saying no. Athena later rubs this in his face.
** Later on the series, his son Lee uses one in Baltar's trial, working for the defense. Ironic, no?
* In ''Series/BabylonFive'', Sheridan combines a Patrick Stewart Speech with a KirkSummation and serves it all up with a LargeHam when he tells both the Vorlons and the Shadows to "Get the hell out of our galaxy!"
** Also, there's Sinclair's response to the reporter in the first season as to whether humanity should be out in space.
** Delenn gave one in the first season to the other members of the Grey Council.

--> '''Buffy''': What do you want?
--> '''Spike''': I told you. I want to stop Angel. I want to save the world.
--> '''Buffy''': Okay, you do remember that you're a vampire, right?
--> '''Spike''': We like to talk big, vampires do. "I'm going to destroy the world." It's just tough guy talk. Struttin' around with your friends over a pint of blood. The truth is, I ''like'' this world. You've got... dog racing, Manchester United, and you've got ''people''. Billions of people walking around like Happy Meals with legs. It's all right here. But then someone comes along with a vision. With a real... [[OmnicidalManiac passion for destruction]]. Angel could pull it off. Goodbye, Piccadilly. Farewell, Leicester bloody Square. You know what I'm saying?

* Captain Jack Harkness' monologue in the ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' episode "[[{{Recap/TorchwoodS1E1EverythingChanges}} Everything Changes]]" about the wonders of 21st century Earth that never cease to amaze him; considering he is an immortal ex-Time Agent in a World War II uniform who was native to the 51st century prior to his first appearance, he might as well be an alien from another planet.
--> "There you go. I can taste it. Oestrogen. Definitely oestrogen. You take the pill, flush it away, it enters the water cycle, feminizes the fish. Goes all the way up into the sky, then falls all the way back down onto me. Contraceptives in the rain. Love this planet. Still, at least I won't get pregnant. [[MisterSeahorse Never doing]] ''[[MisterSeahorse that]]'' [[NoodleIncident again]]."
* {{Inverted| Trope}} on ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': in the Season 4 episode "Wishful Thinking," when someone asks why people can't get what they want, Sam and Dean say it would create chaos.
-->'''Dean:''' I guess people are people because they're [[HumansAreFlawed miserable bastards]] who can't get what they want.
** As cynical as the show is, even the speech is played straight a few times. Dean doesn't understand why [[spoiler:Anna would give up being an angel for being human]]. He's not totally swayed by her reasons, but he agrees that sex is pretty cool. Castiel also thinks humans are okay, and considers each of them to be works of art, being created by God. Also, because angels and humans were created by God, he considers the idea that humans are inferior to be close to blasphemy.
** In Season Five's "Hammer of the Gods," The Trickster/[[spoiler:[[ArchangelGabriel Gabriel]]]] gives one of these to [[spoiler:[[{{Satan}} Lucifer]]]], the season's BigBad, who refers to humans as "cockroaches" and "flawed, broken abortions." The Trickster tells [[spoiler:Lucifer]] that, although HumansAreFlawed, they try to be better. [[spoiler:Then tops it off with, "And you should check out the Spearmint Rhino."]]

* Seeing how wanting to be human is a major part of the show, ''Series/{{Being Human|UK}}'' has a few, usually from Mitchell, who, despite living through both World Wars, and being attacked by a mob believing he's a peadophile, still has complete belief in human goodness.
* Kind of parodied in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXn1zJa0K8c this scene]] from ''Series/{{Misfits}}'', when Nathan gives a ridiculously impassioned rooftop-speech to his brainwashed friends about the glories of hedonistic youth:
-->"She's got you thinking this is how you're supposed to be - ''well it's not!'' We're young! We're supposed to drink too much, we're supposed to have bad attitudes and shag each other's brains out! We were designed to ''party''! This is it. So a few of us - we'll overdose, or go mental - but Charles Darwin said you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs, and that's what it's all about, ''breaking eggs!'' And by eggs I do mean getting twatted on a cocktail of Class A's. If you could just see yourselves! It breaks my heart - YOU'RE WEARING CARDIGANS! We had it all...we fucked up bigger and better than any generation before us! [[PunctuatedForEmphasis WE WERE SO BEAUTIFUL!"]]

* Horribly subverted in an episode of the CBS revival of ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985''. SufficientlyAdvancedAliens land, claim [[NeglectfulPrecursors they triggered humanity's evolution]] and [[YouHaveFailedMe threaten to wipe them out for not reaching their potential]] (mentioning their only virtue seems to be "a small talent for war"). A human diplomat delivers a Patrick Stewart Speech and buys humanity 24 hours to demonstrate why they should be spared; the governments of the world quickly put together a comprehensive world-wide agreement to stop all fighting. The next day the diplomat presents the treaty to the alien representative; he looks at it...[[MassOhCrap and laughs]]. He explains that [[HumansAreWarriors humans were placed on Earth to evolve into powerful warriors.]] Instead they've merely developed [[IronicEcho the aforementioned "small talent for war"]], and the global peace treaty proves their inherently pacifist nature. There's nothing left for the aliens to do but [[ApocalypseHow scour the planet clean]] and start over again elsewhere.

* Happens in the ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' episode "A Constellation of Doubt". The episode is intercut with a documentary they intercepted from Earth about the alien members of the Moya crew who visited. A lot of it involves people being very xenophobic and showing only the worst of human nature, but Noranti redeems us (sorta):
-->'''Noranti:''' I like that you're always striving to reach higher -- hoping for a better tomorrow! It's the quality that first attracted me to your Uncle.\\
'''Bobby:''' That humans dream?\\
'''Noranti:''' Yes! You're so ignorant! But you never give up, even in the face of insurmountable odds!
* At least one episode of every ''Franchise/UltraSeries'' focuses on Human Spirit and Courage.
* The ''Series/PowerRangersWildForce'' episode "The Soul of Humanity" invokes this. During the Org's attack, several humans are pinned under rubble. As the others run away, Mandilok claims to the Rangers that all the humans they protect are nothing but selfish cowards. He's proven wrong when the people return to help their trapped friends. Cole then makes this speech:
-->'''Cole:''' You see that, Mandilok? That is the ''true'' soul of humanity! Humans might make mistakes, but in times of need, we will do whatever it takes to help our friends!

--->'''Quark:''' The way I see it, hew-mons used to be a lot like Ferengi: greedy, acquisitive, interested only in profit. We're a constant reminder of a part of your past you'd like to forget. But you're overlooking something: Hew-mons used to be a lot worse than the Ferengi. Slavery. Concentration camps. Interstellar wars. We have nothing in our past that approaches that kind of barbarism. You see? We're nothing like you. We're better.

* In ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke'', Franchise/{{Batman}} gives one to SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker in response to his "one bad day" monologue. (The Joker tried to [[DrivenToMadness drive Commissioner Gordon mad]] to prove his claim that one bad day is enough to reduce the sanest man to lunacy).

* Batman gives a speech to SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' which, though quite a bit shorter, plays out pretty similarly to the ''[[ComicBook/TheKillingJoke Killing Joke]]'' example above.

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[[folder:Mythology]]