History Quotes / RousingSpeech

-->-- '''Théoden''', ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings: The Return of the King''

-->-- '''Aragorn''', ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings: The Return of the King''

->[[Film/{{Braveheart}} Will you fight?! "No! We will run. And we will live."]] [[Film/TheGreatMuppetCaper Shame on you]]. [[Film/AnimalHouse This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you're going to let it be the worst.]] [[Film/{{Rudy}} And I guarantee a week won't go by in your life you won't regret walking out, letting them get the best of you.]] [[Film/StreetFighter Well, I'm not going home.]] [[Film/OldSchool We've come too far!]] [[Film/MrSmithGoesToWashington And I'm going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause.]] [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings A day may come when the courage of men fails... but it is not this day.]] [[Film/StarTrekFirstContact The line must be drawn here. This far, no further!]] [[Film/BringItOn I'm not saying it's going to be easy.]] [[Film/StandAndDeliver You're going to work harder than you ever worked before.]] [[Film/{{Newsies}} But that's fine, we'll just get tougher with it!]] [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} If a person grits his teeth and shows real determination]], [[{{Film/Apollo 13}} failure is not an option.]] [[Film/RockyBalboa That's how winning is done!]] [[Film/TheMatrixReloaded Believe me when I say,]] [[Film/KingdomOfHeaven we can break this army here]] [[WinOneForTheGipper and win just one for the Gipper]]. [[Film/{{Alexander}} But I say to you what every warrior has known since the beginning of time]]: [[Film/{{Network}} you've got to get mad.]] [[Film/TheOutlawJoseyWales I mean plum mad dog mean.]] [[Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves If you would be free men, then you must]] [[Film/TheGreatDictator fight to fulfill that promise! Let us]] [[Film/{{Patton}} cut out their living guts]] [[Film/AnyGivenSunday one inch at a time]], [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd and they will know what we can do!]] [[Film/{{Troy}} Let no man forget how menacing we are. We are lions!]] [[Film/{{Swingers}} You're like a big bear, man!]] [[{{Film/Miracle}} This is your time!]] [[Film/DeadPoetsSociety Seize the day]], [[Film/GalaxyQuest never surrender,]] [[Film/TheLastStarfighter victory or death,]] [[Film/TheUntouchables that's the Chicago Way!]] [[Film/ArmyOfDarkness Who's with me?]] [[Theatre/PeterPan1904 Clap! Clap! Don't let Tink die! Clap!]] [[Film/{{Hoosiers}} Alright!]] [[Film/TheMightyDucks Let's fly!]] [[Theatre/HenryV And gentlemen in England now abed]] [[Film/PulpFiction shall know my name is the Lord when I]] [[Film/{{Braveheart}} tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take]] [[Film/IndependenceDay our Independence Day!]]

->Simon... never forget. Believe in yourself. Not in the Simon that I believe in. Not in the Kamina that you believe in. Believe in the Simon... who believes in you!

-->--'''Wreck-Gar''', ''WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie''

-->-- '''Wendy''',
''WesternAnimation/{{Gravity Falls}}'', [[Recap/GravityFallsS2E15TheLastMabelcorn "The Last Mabelcorn"]]

-->-- '''[[UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire Empress Theodora]]''' convincing her husband to stay and fight during the Nika riots (attributed), 532

-->-- '''General George Washington''' encouraging his men to re-enlist after a harsh winter campaign, December 31, 1776

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate - we can not consecrate - we can not hallow - this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

-->-- '''President Franklin D. Roosevelt'''[='s=] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhtuMrMVJDk "Day of Infamy"]] speech, December 8, 1941

-->-- '''UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower''' as Supreme Commander of Allies Forces in Europe, Order of the Day for June 2, 1944, unsealed for the D-Day landings

-->-- '''Dr. UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr'''[='s=] "I Have A Dream" speech, August 26, 1963

-->-- '''Dr. UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr''', April 3, 1968, a day before his death

They got that screen up there flashing [wrap it up in] 30 seconds, like I care about taht screen. I got tumors all over my body and I'm worried about some guy in the back going "30 seconds."\\

-->-- '''Shinji Ikari''', ''Fanfic/ShinjiAndWarhammer40K''

->See those, you cunts?! They think they can stop us. But they fucking won't! We are men of the Westerlands! We are Lions! We are Boars! We are Spears, and Firetrees, and the fucking Sun itself! When we roar, the very rocks tremble! So let the fucking dead in the Seven Hells themselves hear us roar!
-->-- '''Jaime Lannister''', ''Fanfic/AnEmpireOfIceAndFire''

->Here we are in the mouth of Hell, and we made it this far by leanin' on each other. That thing may be the key to stoppin' the Queen of Blades, but it's our sweat and blood that'll make it happen. After everything we've been through, past all the fire and fury, the one thing I know is that we can count on each other to get the job done. Or die trying, if that's what it takes. ...Because some things are just worth fighting for.
-->-- '''James Raynor''', ''VideoGame/StarCraftII: Wings of Liberty''

->''It is not that addresses at the opening of a battle make the soldiers brave. The old veterans scarcely hear them, and recruits forget them at the first boom of the cannon. Their usefulness lies in their effect on the course of the campaign, in neutralizing rumors and false reports, in maintaining a good spirit in the camp, and in furnishing matter for camp-fire talk. The printed order of the day should fulfill these different ends.''
--> '''UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte'''

* Michael Joseph Savage, prime minister of New Zealand during WWII, made a famous speech declaring his tiny country's support for their old colonial ally, Great Britain, upon the UK's declaration of war on Germany. Even more impressive, he made this speech from his deathbed:

-->With gratitude for the past and confidence in the future we range ourselves without fear beside Britain. ''Where she goes, we go; where she stands, we stand.'' We are only a small and young nation, but we march with a union of hearts and souls to a common destiny.

* Dragutin Gavrilović, Lieutenant Major of the 10th infantry battalion in the Kingdom of Serbia, gave a famous one in October 1915, with him and his battalion covering the retreat of the pox and famine stricken Serbian army and government to Corfu. His unit stood their ground in Belgrade against advancing German and Austro-Hungarian forces. Most Serbian people know the speech by heart:

-->At exactly three on the clock, the enemy is to be broken by your forceful charge, blown apart with bomb and bayonet. The honor of Belgrade, our capital, will remain untarnished! Soldiers, heroes! The high command has erased our battalion from the official roster.Our battalion has been sacrificed for the honor of the fatherland and of Belgrade. You needn't fear for your lives, for they are already over. Go, go forth into glory! For king and country! Long live the king, long live Belgrade!


* Nelson Mandela, at the Rivonia Trial. Bonus points for being said from the dock, where he thought he faced the death penalty:

-->''Africans want to be paid a living wage. Africans want to perform work which they are capable of doing, and not work which the Government declares them to be capable of. Africans want to be allowed to live where they obtain work, and not be endorsed out of an area because they were not born there. Africans want to be allowed to own land in places where they work, and not to be obliged to live in rented houses which they can never call their own. Africans want to be part of the general population, and not confined to living in their own ghettoes. African men want to have their wives and children to live with them where they work, and not be forced into an unnatural existence in men's hostels. African women want to be with their menfolk and not be left permanently widowed in the Reserves. Africans want to be allowed out after eleven o'clock at night and not to be confined to their rooms like little children. Africans want to be allowed to travel in their own country and to seek work where they want to and not where the Labor Bureau tells them to. Africans want a just share in the whole of South Africa; they want security and a stake in society.''

-->''Above all, we want equal political rights, because without them our disabilities will be permanent. I know this sounds revolutionary to the whites in this country, because the majority of voters will be Africans. This makes the white man fear democracy.''

-->''But this fear cannot be allowed to stand in the way of the only solution which will guarantee racial harmony and freedom for all. It is not true that the enfranchisement of all will result in racial domination. Political division, based on color, is entirely artificial and, when it disappears, so will the domination of one color group by another. The ANC has spent half a century fighting against racialism. When it triumphs it will not change that policy.''

-->''This then is what the ANC is fighting. Their struggle is a truly national one. It is a struggle of the African people, inspired by their own suffering and their own experience. It is a struggle for the right to live.''

-->''During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. '''But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.''' ''

* Ihlya Ehrenburg was a Soviet propagandist who was widely loved by frontline Red Army soldiers. When you read one of his articles, given to Soviet ground forces as a radio address and through the ''Krasnaya Zvezda'' newspaper, you begin to understand just why the Germans hated the Soviet Union, and just why they were so terrified of them. It really is chilling reading: ''"Do not count days; do not count miles. Count only the number of Germans you have killed. Kill the German - this is your old mother's prayer. Kill the German - this is what your children beg. Kill the German - this is the cry of your Russian earth. Do not waver. Do not let up. Kill."''[[note]] This speech is also used in one of the ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' games.[[/note]]
** This speech is very often misquoted and made look like Ehrenburg was claiming that Germans were actually inferior to Russians and encouraging Soviet soldiers to commit atrocities. The full text of the speech, however, shows that it is not the case:
-->Here are excerpts form three letters found on killed Germans.

-->Superintendent Reinhardt writes to Lieutenant Otto von Schirach:

-->"The French were taken to the factory. I've chosen six Russians from the Minsk Region. They are much more enduring than the French. Only one of them died, the rest continue to work in the field and on the farm. Their upkeep costs absolutely nothing, so we don't have to worry that these beasts, whose children could be killing our soldiers right now, eat German bread. Yesterday I lightly punished two Russian bastards who secretly drank skim milk that was for the pigs..."

-->Matheas Zimlich writes to his brother, Gefreiter Heinrich Zimlich:

-->"In Leiden there is a camp for Russians where you can see them. They don't fear weapons, but we talk to them with a good whipping..."

-->A certain Otto Essmann writes to Lieutenant Helmut Weigand:

-->"We have some captive Russians here. These freaks eat worms, they eat from the rubbish bin. I saw them eat grass. And to think these are humans!.."

-->These slavers want to turn our people into slaves. They bring Russians to their country, mock them, drive them to madness with hunger, to the point of eating grass and worms, and a filthy German with a rotten cigar in his mouth philosophises: "Are these even people?.."
-->We know everything. We remember everything. We understand: Germans are not people. Henceforth, the word "German" is the deadliest curse. Henceforth, the word "German" discharges rifles. We shall not talk. We shall not resent. We shall kill. If you haven't killed a single German in a day, your day is wasted. If you think your comrade will kill your German for you, you underestimate the threat. If you don't kill a German, the German will kill you. He will take all yours and he will torture them in his damned Germany. If you can't kill a German with a bullet, kill him with a bayonet. If all is calm on your part of the front, if you are waiting for the battle, kill a German before the battle. If you let a German live, the German will hang a Russian man and disgrace a Russian woman. If you've already killed a German, kill another one -- there's nothing more amusing for us than German corpses.
-->Don't count days. Don't count miles. Count only the Germans you've killed.
-->Kill the German! -- begs your old mother
-->Kill the German! -- prays your child
-->Kill the German! -- cries your Russian land
-->Don't miss.
-->Don't let up.
-->Kill!

* Empress Theodora during the Nika Revolt (532). We don't know exactly what she said, but it was something like: "My lords, the present occasion is too serious to allow me to follow the convention that a woman should not speak in a man's council. Those whose interests are threatened by extreme danger should think only of the wisest course of action, not of conventions. In my opinion, flight is not the right course, even if it should bring us to safety. It is impossible for a person, having been born into this world, not to die; but for one who has reigned it is intolerable to be a fugitive. May I never be deprived of this purple robe, and may I never see the day when those who meet me do not call me empress. If you wish to save yourself, my lord, there is no difficulty. We are rich; over there is the sea, and yonder are the ships. Yet reflect for a moment whether, when you have once escaped to a place of security, you would not gladly exchange such safety for death. As for me, I agree with the adage that the royal purple is the noblest shroud." And yes, she did convince Justinian to fight and win.
* Boudicca's final speech to her army (60) has been verbally passed down as such: "But now, it is not as a woman descended from noble ancestry, but as one of the people that I am avenging lost freedom, my scourged , and marked body, the outraged chastity of my daughters. Roman lust has gone so far that not our very person, nor even age or virginity, are left unpolluted. But heaven is on the side of a righteous vengeance; a legion which dared to fight has perished; the rest are hiding themselves in their camp, or are thinking anxiously of flight. They will not sustain even the din and the shout of so many thousands, much less our charge and our blows. If you weigh well the strength of the armies, and the causes of the war, you will see that in this battle you must conquer or die. This is a woman's resolve; as for men, they may live and be slaves, and captive." Her army lost, however.
** By contrast opposing Roman general Gaius Suetonius Paulinus's rousing speech was less rousing but more on the practical side:
-->"Ignore the racket made by these savages. There are more women than men in their ranks. They are not soldiers - they're not even properly equipped. We've beaten them before and when they see our weapons and feel our spirit, they'll crack. Stick together. Throw the javelins, then push forward: knock them down with your shields and finish them off with your swords. Forget about plunder. Just win and you'll have everything."
* French Revolution general Jean-Baptiste Jourdan at the Battle of Fleurus (1794):
--> "Retreat ? No retreat today ! Victory or Death !"
* This trope was essentially Cicero's job. All it took was a series of rousing speeches from this man to have the conspirator Catiline executed without a trial.
* Abraham Lincoln: "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Address Four score and seven years ago...]]"
** Ironically, at the time Lincoln thought the speech was a failure.
* Frederick the Great to his fleeing Prussian troops at the Battle of Kolin in 1757 : "Ihr verfluchten Racker, wollt ihr denn ewig leben?" (roughly: "You damned bastards, do you want to live forever?")
* The U.S. Marines in World War I, having just arrived on the Western Front, were sent into battle through retreating French troops. After being implored to retreat with them, one of the Marine officers offered: 'Retreat? Hell no, we just got here!' (the attribution as to which officer offered the quote is sketchy though).
* Queen Elizabeth I (1588, defeat of the Spanish armada): "My loving people, we have been persuaded by some, that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes, for fear of treachery; but I assure you, I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear; I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good will of my subjects. And therefore I am come amongst you at this time, not as for my recreation or sport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live or die amongst you all; to lay down, for my God, and for my kingdom, and for my people, my honor and my blood, even the dust. '''I know I have but the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart of a king, and of a king of England, too; and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realms''': to which, rather than any dishonor should grow by me, I myself will take up arms; I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field. I know already, by your forwardness, that you have deserved rewards and crowns; and we do assure you, on the word of a prince, they shall be duly paid you. In the mean my lieutenant general shall be in my stead, than whom never prince commanded a more noble and worthy subject; not doubting by your obedience to my general, by your concord in the camp, and by your valor in the field, we shall shortly have a famous victory over the enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my people."

* It wasn't a RousingSpeech, but Lord Nelson ordered a signal sent to the other ships preparing for the Battle of Trafalgar: "England Expects That Every Man Will Do His Duty." He then [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome led his own ship into the heat of battle and won the day]]... [[TheHeroDies at the cost of his own life]]. The line remains as one of the most stirring calls to action in British memory, and considering how many RousingSpeech moments there are in British history, that's saying something.
** It was originally intended to be "England Confides..." ("England is confident..."). However, "Expects" had a shorthand flag code whereas "Confides" would have had to be spelled out letter by letter.

* On Omaha Beach on D-Day, Col. George Taylor got his troops off the beach by saying, "There are two kinds of people who are staying on this beach; the dead and those who are going to die! Now let's get the hell out of here!"
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v71W_FFW_J0 The Patton Speech]]: "No bastard ever won a war, by dying for his country. He won it, by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country."
* Winston Churchill's speeches during World War II. The man was a master of the RousingSpeech.
** May 13, 1940 (shortly after becoming Prime Minister):
-->I hope that any of my friends and colleagues, or former colleagues, who are affected by the political reconstruction, will make allowance, all allowance, for any lack of ceremony with which it has been necessary to act. I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this government: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."

-->We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim?

-->I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all error, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival. Let that be realised; no survival for the British Empire, no survival for all that the British Empire has stood for, no survival for the urge and impulse of the ages, that mankind will move forward towards its goal. But I take up my task with buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men. At this time I feel entitled to claim the aid of all, and I say, "come then, let us go forward together with our united strength."

** June 4, 1940 (after the evacuation from Dunkirk):
-->"I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone.

-->At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of His Majesty's Government-every man of them. That is the will of Parliament and the nation.
-->The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength.

-->Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail.

-->We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; '''we shall never surrender''', and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old."

** June 18, 1940 (just as the Germans were finishing their conquest of France and preparing to attack Britain):
-->But as it is, I am happy to inform the House that our fighter strength is stronger at the present time relatively to the Germans, who have suffered terrible losses, than it has ever been; and consequently we believe ourselves possessed of the capacity to continue the war in the air under better conditions than we have ever experienced before. I look forward confidently to the exploits of our fighter pilots--these splendid men, this brilliant youth--who will have the glory of saving their native land, their island home, and all they love, from the most deadly of all attacks. ...

-->What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us.

-->Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science.

-->Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, '''This was their finest hour.'''

* De Gaulle, this same June 18, 1940. His government surrendered after the hero of the previous war, Pétain, was put to power. He was a brigadier general in London, with no army, with no navy, with no air force. His country was clearly on the track of fallen powers, however the war ended. For everyone else, it would have been the end of the fight. For him... it was only the beginning. When he finished his job, he managed not only to regain everything lost, but to make sure his country was still among the great powers (all the while pissing off a large bunch of his allies).

-->The leaders who, for many years, have been at the head of the French armies have formed a government. This government, alleging the defeat of our armies, has made contact with the enemy in order to stop the fighting. It is true, we were, we are, overwhelmed by the mechanical, ground and air forces of the enemy. Infinitely more than their number, it is the tanks, the aeroplanes, the tactics of the Germans which are causing us to retreat. It was the tanks, the aeroplanes, the tactics of the Germans that surprised our leaders to the point of bringing them to where they are today.

-->But has the last word been said? Must hope disappear? Is defeat final? No!

-->Believe me, I who am speaking to you with full knowledge of the facts, and who tell you that nothing is lost for France. The same means that overcame us can bring us victory one day. For France is not alone! She is not alone! She is not alone! She has a vast Empire behind her. She can align with the British Empire that holds the sea and continues the fight. She can, like England, use without limit the immense industry of the United States.

-->This war is not limited to the unfortunate territory of our country. This war is not over as a result of the Battle of France. This war is a worldwide war. All the mistakes, all the delays, all the suffering, do not alter the fact that there are, in the world, all the means necessary to crush our enemies one day. Vanquished today by mechanical force, in the future we will be able to overcome by a superior mechanical force. The fate of the world depends on it.

-->I, General de Gaulle, currently in London, invite the officers and the French soldiers who are located in British territory or who might end up here, with their weapons or without their weapons, I invite the engineers and the specialised workers of the armament industries who are located in British territory or who might end up here, to put themselves in contact with me.

-->Whatever happens, the flame of the French resistance must not be extinguished and will not be extinguished. Tomorrow, as today, I will speak on the radio from London.

* Franklin Delano Roosevelt
** March 4, 1933:
--> This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that '''the only thing we have to fear is fear itself''' -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhtuMrMVJDk December 8, 1941]]:
--> Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - '''a date which will live in infamy''' - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
--> ...Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya. Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands. Last night the Japanese attacked Wake Island. This morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.

--> Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday speak for themselves.

--> Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.

--> I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.

--> Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger.

--> With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounded determination of our people - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God.
* Dwight D. Eisenhower, as Supreme Commander of Allies Forces in Europe, gave this rousing speech to the troops embarking on the D-Day landings, albeit only in sealed notices that were opened once the fleet was underway for secrecy:
-->Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

-->Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened. He will fight savagely. But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory!

-->I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory! Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.
* Paratrooper Joseph Beyrle, the only soldier known to have served with both US and Soviet armies, relates how the female commander of his Soviet tank battalion Captain [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandra_Samusenko Aleksandra Samusenko]] would always use the same stirring phrase, followed by her troops enthusiastic "UH-RAAAAAH!" When Beyrle asked for a translation it turned out to be: "Follow my ass as if you can have it!"
* Martin Luther King, on the 26th of August, 1963:
--> We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children. ...
--> And 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.

--> 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 color of their skin but by the content of their character.

--> '''I have a dream today!'''

--> I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

--> I have a dream today!
* And on April 3, 1968, the day before he was kiled:
--> And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers? Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. '''Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land.''' I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePXlkqkFH6s Jim Valvano at the 1993 ESPY Awards]]. After being diagnosed with bone cancer in June of 1992 and discovering it had metastasized the following month, he was awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award at the inaugural edition of the [=ESPYs=]. In his acceptance speech (with most of his ESPN co-workers in or near tears), he announced the creation of the "V Foundation", which would be dedicated to finding a cure for cancer, and that its motto would be his famous quotation, "Don't give up. Don't ever give up." At one point, the teleprompter flashed that he had 30 seconds to wrap it up, at which point he said, "They got that screen up there flashing 30 seconds, like I care about that screen. I got tumors all over my body and I'm worried about some guy in the back going 30 seconds." The conclusion:
-->'''Valvano:''' Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever. I thank you and God bless you all.
** The 1993 [=ESPYs=] were held on March 3. Valvano died April 28, 1993, at the age of 47.
* There was a bit of {{Defictionalization}} with the example from ''Film/KnuteRockneAllAmerican'' listed under Film. The actor giving the speech was Ronald Reagan, and he was so effective at giving the speech in the first take, the other actors became so fired up that they just charged towards the door. The problem was, it was just a set, and the group of actors playing the team tore down the whole set in their charge. It had to be rebuilt for an additional take.

* Subversion:
-->You volunteered to die for your country, and now you have the chance do it! ~Union General Charles Smith, during the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar.

* George Washington was really good at these.
** January 3, 1777:
-->My brave fellows, you have done all I asked you to do, and more than can be reasonably expected; but your country is at stake, your wives, your houses and all that you hold dear. You have worn yourselves out with fatigues and hardships, but we know not how to spare you. If you will consent to stay one month longer, you will render that service to the cause of liberty, and to your country, which you probably can never do under any other circumstances.

** August 27 1776:
-->The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them. The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or die.

-->Our own Country’s Honor all call upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world. Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the Cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands Victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble Actions—The Eyes of all our Countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings, and praises, if happily we are the instruments of saving them from the Tyranny meditated against them. Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and shew the whole world, that a Freeman contending for Liberty on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth.

** From the other side, the '''Earl of Chatham''' gave one of the most savage, rousing, and awe-inspiring speeches in House of Commons history during the Revolutionary War. It was so powerful, and he was so old, that he died of a stroke soon after:

-->My Lords, I rejoice that the grave has not closed upon me; that I am still alive to lift up my voice against the dismemberment of this ancient and most noble monarchy! Pressed down as I am by the hand of infirmity, I am little able to assist my country in this most perilous conjuncture; but, my Lords, while I have sense and memory, I will never consent to deprive the royal offspring of the House of Brunswick, the heirs of the Princess Sophia, of their fairest inheritance. Where is the man that will dare to advise such a measure? My Lords, his Majesty succeeded to an empire as great in extent as its reputation was unsullied. Shall we tarnish the lustre of this nation by an ignominious surrender of its rights and fairest possessions? Shall this great kingdom, that has survived, whole and entire, the Danish depredations, the Scottish inroads, and the Norman conquest; that has stood the threatened invasion of the Spanish Armada, now fall prostrate before the House of Bourbon? Surely, my Lords, this nation is no longer what it was! Shall a people, that seventeen years ago was the terror of the world, now stoop so low as to tell its ancient inveterate enemy, take all we have, only give us peace? It is impossible! ...My Lords, any state is better than despair. Let us at least make one effort; and if we must fall, '''''let us fall like men!'''''

* Say what you will about /b/, but when they get stirred to righteousness it's a sight to behold, as in this message about rescuing a young Anoynmous from his insane mother:

-->"Any of you ever watch the Rambo movies? Because that's what this is. Sure, we're going in guns blazing, fucking up anyone who gets in our way, but by God this is a rescue mission. We've got a /b/rother behind enemy lines who needs our help! This woman is batshit insane and we can't let her continue fucking with him like this. She wanted to ABORT HER TEENAGE SON because he was viewing pornography. She tells him he's a rapist because he likes girls. She tells him that "his kind" are responsible for everything wrong in the world. She tells him that he is worthless and inferior. This is unacceptable to me as an Anonymous, it is unacceptable to me as a man, and it is unacceptable to me as a decent human being. Do what you have to do - tell the son, tell the ex, tell social services, '''but we are going to get our man out alive.'''"

* If you've watched ''Film/{{Apollo13}}'', you probably remember Flight Director Gene Kranz's "Failure is not an option!" speech. The real Gene Kranz didn't say this specific line during the mission, but if you read his memoir to find out what he actually said, the sentiment is exactly the same:
-->Okay, listen up. When you leave this room, you must leave believing that ''this crew is coming home.'' I don't give a damn about the odds and I don't give a damn that we've never done anything like this before. Flight Control will ''never'' lose an American in space. You've got to believe, your people have got to believe, that this crew is coming home. Now let's get going!

* Before the Battle of the Pyramids, Napoleon rallied his soldiers with a cry of
-->''Forward! Remember that from those monuments yonder forty centuries look down upon you.''

* Before the Battle of Okehazama, where his massively outnumbered force would storm the camp of the enormous Imagawa army and slay their daimyo, establishing himself as one of the foremost lords in feudal Japan, UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga supposedly made this speech:
-->Imagawa has 40,000 men marching toward this place? I don't believe that. He 'only' has 25,000 soldiers. Yes, that is still too many. So, Sado, you want me to surrender. What if we do surrender? Will you get content with losing your life that way? Or what if we hold on like Katsuie wants me to? What if we stay here in this castle, lock it up, and wait until the Imagawas lose appetite and stop the siege and go home? We will be able to prolong our lives for five or ten days, and what we cannot defend will still be undefendable. We are at the bottom of the pit, you know. And our fate is interesting. Of course the misery is too great, too. But this is how I see it: this is a chance in a lifetime. I can't afford to miss this. [[DareToBeBadass Do you really want to spend your entire lives praying for longevity? We were born in order to die! Whoever is with me, come to the battlefield tomorrow morning. Whoever is not, just stay wherever you are and watch me win it!]]

->''General'': Brave soldiers of Repliforce, we have all been wrongfully judged as Mavericks by the humans. We cannot suffer this indignity and live in disgrace. We will build our own nation of Reploids. But remember, this is neither about insurrection, or rebellion against our human creators. This is about our liberty and security. We must battle for our own individual rights, and our own survival. Together we will build our own nation, a sanctuary for all Reploids, our own Utopia. Let us forge onward towards a new golden era for the Repliforce.\\

* On October 2, 2017, a day after the shooting in Las Vegas, President Creator/DonaldTrump has this to say to the people.
-->''Our unity cannot be shattered by evil. Our bonds cannot be broken with violence. And though we feel such anger at the senseless murder of our fellow citizens, it is our love that defines us today - and always will. Forever.''
[[/folder]]

-->-- ''VideoGame/WolfensteinIITheNewColossus''

->'''Horton''': Oh, lordy, look at ya, stuffin' your faces full o' bratwursts as you sit in front of your Nazi television boxes, just laughin'! Laughin' at all the lies they've feedin' ya! Laughin' tell ya's chokin''! Well, it ends tonight.\\

'''Horton''': They's a-lyin'! They's a-lyin', and they's a-threatenin', they's a-torturin', they's a-killin'...
''[[ConditionedToAcceptHorror They beat ya into submission!]]''\\

[[folder: Real Life]]

* Michael Joseph Savage, prime minister of New Zealand during WWII, made a famous speech declaring his tiny country's support for their old colonial ally, Great Britain, upon the UK's declaration of war on Germany. Even more impressive, he made this speech from his deathbed:

-->With gratitude for the past and confidence in the future we range ourselves without fear beside Britain. ''Where she goes, we go; where she stands, we stand.'' We are only a small and young nation, but we march with a union of hearts and souls to a common destiny.

* Dragutin Gavrilović, Lieutenant Major of the 10th infantry battalion in the Kingdom of Serbia, gave a famous one in October 1915, with him and his battalion covering the retreat of the pox and famine stricken Serbian army and government to Corfu. His unit stood their ground in Belgrade against advancing German and Austro-Hungarian forces. Most Serbian people know the speech by heart:

-->At exactly three on the clock, the enemy is to be broken by your forceful charge, blown apart with bomb and bayonet. The honor of Belgrade, our capital, will remain untarnished! Soldiers, heroes! The high command has erased our battalion from the official roster.Our battalion has been sacrificed for the honor of the fatherland and of Belgrade. You needn't fear for your lives, for they are already over. Go, go forth into glory! For king and country! Long live the king, long live Belgrade!


* Nelson Mandela, at the Rivonia Trial. Bonus points for being said from the dock, where he thought he faced the death penalty:

-->''Africans want to be paid a living wage. Africans want to perform work which they are capable of doing, and not work which the Government declares them to be capable of. Africans want to be allowed to live where they obtain work, and not be endorsed out of an area because they were not born there. Africans want to be allowed to own land in places where they work, and not to be obliged to live in rented houses which they can never call their own. Africans want to be part of the general population, and not confined to living in their own ghettoes. African men want to have their wives and children to live with them where they work, and not be forced into an unnatural existence in men's hostels. African women want to be with their menfolk and not be left permanently widowed in the Reserves. Africans want to be allowed out after eleven o'clock at night and not to be confined to their rooms like little children. Africans want to be allowed to travel in their own country and to seek work where they want to and not where the Labor Bureau tells them to. Africans want a just share in the whole of South Africa; they want security and a stake in society.''

-->''Above all, we want equal political rights, because without them our disabilities will be permanent. I know this sounds revolutionary to the whites in this country, because the majority of voters will be Africans. This makes the white man fear democracy.''

-->''But this fear cannot be allowed to stand in the way of the only solution which will guarantee racial harmony and freedom for all. It is not true that the enfranchisement of all will result in racial domination. Political division, based on color, is entirely artificial and, when it disappears, so will the domination of one color group by another. The ANC has spent half a century fighting against racialism. When it triumphs it will not change that policy.''

-->''This then is what the ANC is fighting. Their struggle is a truly national one. It is a struggle of the African people, inspired by their own suffering and their own experience. It is a struggle for the right to live.''

-->''During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. '''But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.''' ''

* Ihlya Ehrenburg was a Soviet propagandist who was widely loved by frontline Red Army soldiers. When you read one of his articles, given to Soviet ground forces as a radio address and through the ''Krasnaya Zvezda'' newspaper, you begin to understand just why the Germans hated the Soviet Union, and just why they were so terrified of them. It really is chilling reading: ''"Do not count days; do not count miles. Count only the number of Germans you have killed. Kill the German - this is your old mother's prayer. Kill the German - this is what your children beg. Kill the German - this is the cry of your Russian earth. Do not waver. Do not let up. Kill."''[[note]] This speech is also used in one of the ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' games.[[/note]]
** This speech is very often misquoted and made look like Ehrenburg was claiming that Germans were actually inferior to Russians and encouraging Soviet soldiers to commit atrocities. The full text of the speech, however, shows that it is not the case:
-->Here are excerpts form three letters found on killed Germans.

-->Superintendent Reinhardt writes to Lieutenant Otto von Schirach:

-->"The French were taken to the factory. I've chosen six Russians from the Minsk Region. They are much more enduring than the French. Only one of them died, the rest continue to work in the field and on the farm. Their upkeep costs absolutely nothing, so we don't have to worry that these beasts, whose children could be killing our soldiers right now, eat German bread. Yesterday I lightly punished two Russian bastards who secretly drank skim milk that was for the pigs..."

-->Matheas Zimlich writes to his brother, Gefreiter Heinrich Zimlich:

-->"In Leiden there is a camp for Russians where you can see them. They don't fear weapons, but we talk to them with a good whipping..."

-->A certain Otto Essmann writes to Lieutenant Helmut Weigand:

-->"We have some captive Russians here. These freaks eat worms, they eat from the rubbish bin. I saw them eat grass. And to think these are humans!.."

-->These slavers want to turn our people into slaves. They bring Russians to their country, mock them, drive them to madness with hunger, to the point of eating grass and worms, and a filthy German with a rotten cigar in his mouth philosophises: "Are these even people?.."
-->We know everything. We remember everything. We understand: Germans are not people. Henceforth, the word "German" is the deadliest curse. Henceforth, the word "German" discharges rifles. We shall not talk. We shall not resent. We shall kill. If you haven't killed a single German in a day, your day is wasted. If you think your comrade will kill your German for you, you underestimate the threat. If you don't kill a German, the German will kill you. He will take all yours and he will torture them in his damned Germany. If you can't kill a German with a bullet, kill him with a bayonet. If all is calm on your part of the front, if you are waiting for the battle, kill a German before the battle. If you let a German live, the German will hang a Russian man and disgrace a Russian woman. If you've already killed a German, kill another one -- there's nothing more amusing for us than German corpses.
-->Don't count days. Don't count miles. Count only the Germans you've killed.
-->Kill the German! -- begs your old mother
-->Kill the German! -- prays your child
-->Kill the German! -- cries your Russian land
-->Don't miss.
-->Don't let up.
-->Kill!

* Empress Theodora during the Nika Revolt (532). We don't know exactly what she said, but it was something like: "My lords, the present occasion is too serious to allow me to follow the convention that a woman should not speak in a man's council. Those whose interests are threatened by extreme danger should think only of the wisest course of action, not of conventions. In my opinion, flight is not the right course, even if it should bring us to safety. It is impossible for a person, having been born into this world, not to die; but for one who has reigned it is intolerable to be a fugitive. May I never be deprived of this purple robe, and may I never see the day when those who meet me do not call me empress. If you wish to save yourself, my lord, there is no difficulty. We are rich; over there is the sea, and yonder are the ships. Yet reflect for a moment whether, when you have once escaped to a place of security, you would not gladly exchange such safety for death. As for me, I agree with the adage that the royal purple is the noblest shroud." And yes, she did convince Justinian to fight and win.
* Boudicca's final speech to her army (60) has been verbally passed down as such: "But now, it is not as a woman descended from noble ancestry, but as one of the people that I am avenging lost freedom, my scourged , and marked body, the outraged chastity of my daughters. Roman lust has gone so far that not our very person, nor even age or virginity, are left unpolluted. But heaven is on the side of a righteous vengeance; a legion which dared to fight has perished; the rest are hiding themselves in their camp, or are thinking anxiously of flight. They will not sustain even the din and the shout of so many thousands, much less our charge and our blows. If you weigh well the strength of the armies, and the causes of the war, you will see that in this battle you must conquer or die. This is a woman's resolve; as for men, they may live and be slaves, and captive." Her army lost, however.
** By contrast opposing Roman general Gaius Suetonius Paulinus's rousing speech was less rousing but more on the practical side:
-->"Ignore the racket made by these savages. There are more women than men in their ranks. They are not soldiers - they're not even properly equipped. We've beaten them before and when they see our weapons and feel our spirit, they'll crack. Stick together. Throw the javelins, then push forward: knock them down with your shields and finish them off with your swords. Forget about plunder. Just win and you'll have everything."
* French Revolution general Jean-Baptiste Jourdan at the Battle of Fleurus (1794):
--> "Retreat ? No retreat today ! Victory or Death !"
* This trope was essentially Cicero's job. All it took was a series of rousing speeches from this man to have the conspirator Catiline executed without a trial.
* Abraham Lincoln: "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Address Four score and seven years ago...]]"
** Ironically, at the time Lincoln thought the speech was a failure.
* Frederick the Great to his fleeing Prussian troops at the Battle of Kolin in 1757 : "Ihr verfluchten Racker, wollt ihr denn ewig leben?" (roughly: "You damned bastards, do you want to live forever?")
* The U.S. Marines in World War I, having just arrived on the Western Front, were sent into battle through retreating French troops. After being implored to retreat with them, one of the Marine officers offered: 'Retreat? Hell no, we just got here!' (the attribution as to which officer offered the quote is sketchy though).
* Queen Elizabeth I (1588, defeat of the Spanish armada): "My loving people, we have been persuaded by some, that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes, for fear of treachery; but I assure you, I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear; I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good will of my subjects. And therefore I am come amongst you at this time, not as for my recreation or sport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live or die amongst you all; to lay down, for my God, and for my kingdom, and for my people, my honor and my blood, even the dust. '''I know I have but the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart of a king, and of a king of England, too; and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realms''': to which, rather than any dishonor should grow by me, I myself will take up arms; I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field. I know already, by your forwardness, that you have deserved rewards and crowns; and we do assure you, on the word of a prince, they shall be duly paid you. In the mean my lieutenant general shall be in my stead, than whom never prince commanded a more noble and worthy subject; not doubting by your obedience to my general, by your concord in the camp, and by your valor in the field, we shall shortly have a famous victory over the enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my people."

* It wasn't a RousingSpeech, but Lord Nelson ordered a signal sent to the other ships preparing for the Battle of Trafalgar: "England Expects That Every Man Will Do His Duty." He then [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome led his own ship into the heat of battle and won the day]]... [[TheHeroDies at the cost of his own life]]. The line remains as one of the most stirring calls to action in British memory, and considering how many RousingSpeech moments there are in British history, that's saying something.
** It was originally intended to be "England Confides..." ("England is confident..."). However, "Expects" had a shorthand flag code whereas "Confides" would have had to be spelled out letter by letter.

* On Omaha Beach on D-Day, Col. George Taylor got his troops off the beach by saying, "There are two kinds of people who are staying on this beach; the dead and those who are going to die! Now let's get the hell out of here!"
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v71W_FFW_J0 The Patton Speech]]: "No bastard ever won a war, by dying for his country. He won it, by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country."
* Winston Churchill's speeches during World War II. The man was a master of the RousingSpeech.
** May 13, 1940 (shortly after becoming Prime Minister):
-->I hope that any of my friends and colleagues, or former colleagues, who are affected by the political reconstruction, will make allowance, all allowance, for any lack of ceremony with which it has been necessary to act. I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this government: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."

-->We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim?

-->I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all error, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival. Let that be realised; no survival for the British Empire, no survival for all that the British Empire has stood for, no survival for the urge and impulse of the ages, that mankind will move forward towards its goal. But I take up my task with buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men. At this time I feel entitled to claim the aid of all, and I say, "come then, let us go forward together with our united strength."

** June 4, 1940 (after the evacuation from Dunkirk):
-->"I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone.

-->At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of His Majesty's Government-every man of them. That is the will of Parliament and the nation.
-->The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength.

-->Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail.

-->We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; '''we shall never surrender''', and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old."

** June 18, 1940 (just as the Germans were finishing their conquest of France and preparing to attack Britain):
-->But as it is, I am happy to inform the House that our fighter strength is stronger at the present time relatively to the Germans, who have suffered terrible losses, than it has ever been; and consequently we believe ourselves possessed of the capacity to continue the war in the air under better conditions than we have ever experienced before. I look forward confidently to the exploits of our fighter pilots--these splendid men, this brilliant youth--who will have the glory of saving their native land, their island home, and all they love, from the most deadly of all attacks. ...

-->What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us.

-->Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science.

-->Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, '''This was their finest hour.'''

* De Gaulle, this same June 18, 1940. His government surrendered after the hero of the previous war, Pétain, was put to power. He was a brigadier general in London, with no army, with no navy, with no air force. His country was clearly on the track of fallen powers, however the war ended. For everyone else, it would have been the end of the fight. For him... it was only the beginning. When he finished his job, he managed not only to regain everything lost, but to make sure his country was still among the great powers (all the while pissing off a large bunch of his allies).

-->The leaders who, for many years, have been at the head of the French armies have formed a government. This government, alleging the defeat of our armies, has made contact with the enemy in order to stop the fighting. It is true, we were, we are, overwhelmed by the mechanical, ground and air forces of the enemy. Infinitely more than their number, it is the tanks, the aeroplanes, the tactics of the Germans which are causing us to retreat. It was the tanks, the aeroplanes, the tactics of the Germans that surprised our leaders to the point of bringing them to where they are today.

-->But has the last word been said? Must hope disappear? Is defeat final? No!

-->Believe me, I who am speaking to you with full knowledge of the facts, and who tell you that nothing is lost for France. The same means that overcame us can bring us victory one day. For France is not alone! She is not alone! She is not alone! She has a vast Empire behind her. She can align with the British Empire that holds the sea and continues the fight. She can, like England, use without limit the immense industry of the United States.

-->This war is not limited to the unfortunate territory of our country. This war is not over as a result of the Battle of France. This war is a worldwide war. All the mistakes, all the delays, all the suffering, do not alter the fact that there are, in the world, all the means necessary to crush our enemies one day. Vanquished today by mechanical force, in the future we will be able to overcome by a superior mechanical force. The fate of the world depends on it.

-->I, General de Gaulle, currently in London, invite the officers and the French soldiers who are located in British territory or who might end up here, with their weapons or without their weapons, I invite the engineers and the specialised workers of the armament industries who are located in British territory or who might end up here, to put themselves in contact with me.

-->Whatever happens, the flame of the French resistance must not be extinguished and will not be extinguished. Tomorrow, as today, I will speak on the radio from London.

* Franklin Delano Roosevelt
** March 4, 1933:
--> This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that '''the only thing we have to fear is fear itself''' -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhtuMrMVJDk December 8, 1941]]:
--> Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - '''a date which will live in infamy''' - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
--> ...Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya. Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands. Last night the Japanese attacked Wake Island. This morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.

--> Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday speak for themselves.

--> Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.

--> I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.

--> Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger.

--> With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounded determination of our people - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God.
* Dwight D. Eisenhower, as Supreme Commander of Allies Forces in Europe, gave this rousing speech to the troops embarking on the D-Day landings, albeit only in sealed notices that were opened once the fleet was underway for secrecy:
-->Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

-->Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened. He will fight savagely. But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory!

-->I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory! Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.
* Paratrooper Joseph Beyrle, the only soldier known to have served with both US and Soviet armies, relates how the female commander of his Soviet tank battalion Captain [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandra_Samusenko Aleksandra Samusenko]] would always use the same stirring phrase, followed by her troops enthusiastic "UH-RAAAAAH!" When Beyrle asked for a translation it turned out to be: "Follow my ass as if you can have it!"
* Martin Luther King, on the 26th of August, 1963:
--> We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children. ...
--> And 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.

--> 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 color of their skin but by the content of their character.

--> '''I have a dream today!'''

--> I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

--> I have a dream today!
* And on April 3, 1968, the day before he was kiled:
--> And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers? Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. '''Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land.''' I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePXlkqkFH6s Jim Valvano at the 1993 ESPY Awards]]. After being diagnosed with bone cancer in June of 1992 and discovering it had metastasized the following month, he was awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award at the inaugural edition of the [=ESPYs=]. In his acceptance speech (with most of his ESPN co-workers in or near tears), he announced the creation of the "V Foundation", which would be dedicated to finding a cure for cancer, and that its motto would be his famous quotation, "Don't give up. Don't ever give up." At one point, the teleprompter flashed that he had 30 seconds to wrap it up, at which point he said, "They got that screen up there flashing 30 seconds, like I care about that screen. I got tumors all over my body and I'm worried about some guy in the back going 30 seconds." The conclusion:
-->'''Valvano:''' Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever. I thank you and God bless you all.
** The 1993 [=ESPYs=] were held on March 3. Valvano died April 28, 1993, at the age of 47.
* There was a bit of {{Defictionalization}} with the example from ''Film/KnuteRockneAllAmerican'' listed under Film. The actor giving the speech was Ronald Reagan, and he was so effective at giving the speech in the first take, the other actors became so fired up that they just charged towards the door. The problem was, it was just a set, and the group of actors playing the team tore down the whole set in their charge. It had to be rebuilt for an additional take.

* Subversion:
-->You volunteered to die for your country, and now you have the chance do it! ~Union General Charles Smith, during the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar.

* George Washington was really good at these.
** January 3, 1777:
-->My brave fellows, you have done all I asked you to do, and more than can be reasonably expected; but your country is at stake, your wives, your houses and all that you hold dear. You have worn yourselves out with fatigues and hardships, but we know not how to spare you. If you will consent to stay one month longer, you will render that service to the cause of liberty, and to your country, which you probably can never do under any other circumstances.

** August 27 1776:
-->The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them. The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or die.

-->Our own Country’s Honor all call upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world. Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the Cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands Victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble Actions—The Eyes of all our Countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings, and praises, if happily we are the instruments of saving them from the Tyranny meditated against them. Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and shew the whole world, that a Freeman contending for Liberty on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth.

** From the other side, the '''Earl of Chatham''' gave one of the most savage, rousing, and awe-inspiring speeches in House of Commons history during the Revolutionary War. It was so powerful, and he was so old, that he died of a stroke soon after:

-->My Lords, I rejoice that the grave has not closed upon me; that I am still alive to lift up my voice against the dismemberment of this ancient and most noble monarchy! Pressed down as I am by the hand of infirmity, I am little able to assist my country in this most perilous conjuncture; but, my Lords, while I have sense and memory, I will never consent to deprive the royal offspring of the House of Brunswick, the heirs of the Princess Sophia, of their fairest inheritance. Where is the man that will dare to advise such a measure? My Lords, his Majesty succeeded to an empire as great in extent as its reputation was unsullied. Shall we tarnish the lustre of this nation by an ignominious surrender of its rights and fairest possessions? Shall this great kingdom, that has survived, whole and entire, the Danish depredations, the Scottish inroads, and the Norman conquest; that has stood the threatened invasion of the Spanish Armada, now fall prostrate before the House of Bourbon? Surely, my Lords, this nation is no longer what it was! Shall a people, that seventeen years ago was the terror of the world, now stoop so low as to tell its ancient inveterate enemy, take all we have, only give us peace? It is impossible! ...My Lords, any state is better than despair. Let us at least make one effort; and if we must fall, '''''let us fall like men!'''''

* Say what you will about /b/, but when they get stirred to righteousness it's a sight to behold, as in this message about rescuing a young Anoynmous from his insane mother:

-->"Any of you ever watch the Rambo movies? Because that's what this is. Sure, we're going in guns blazing, fucking up anyone who gets in our way, but by God this is a rescue mission. We've got a /b/rother behind enemy lines who needs our help! This woman is batshit insane and we can't let her continue fucking with him like this. She wanted to ABORT HER TEENAGE SON because he was viewing pornography. She tells him he's a rapist because he likes girls. She tells him that "his kind" are responsible for everything wrong in the world. She tells him that he is worthless and inferior. This is unacceptable to me as an Anonymous, it is unacceptable to me as a man, and it is unacceptable to me as a decent human being. Do what you have to do - tell the son, tell the ex, tell social services, '''but we are going to get our man out alive.'''"

* If you've watched ''Film/{{Apollo13}}'', you probably remember Flight Director Gene Kranz's "Failure is not an option!" speech. The real Gene Kranz didn't say this specific line during the mission, but if you read his memoir to find out what he actually said, the sentiment is exactly the same:
-->Okay, listen up. When you leave this room, you must leave believing that ''this crew is coming home.'' I don't give a damn about the odds and I don't give a damn that we've never done anything like this before. Flight Control will ''never'' lose an American in space. You've got to believe, your people have got to believe, that this crew is coming home. Now let's get going!

* Before the Battle of the Pyramids, Napoleon rallied his soldiers with a cry of
-->''Forward! Remember that from those monuments yonder forty centuries look down upon you.''

* Before the Battle of Okehazama, where his massively outnumbered force would storm the camp of the enormous Imagawa army and slay their daimyo, establishing himself as one of the foremost lords in feudal Japan, UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga supposedly made this speech:
-->Imagawa has 40,000 men marching toward this place? I don't believe that. He 'only' has 25,000 soldiers. Yes, that is still too many. So, Sado, you want me to surrender. What if we do surrender? Will you get content with losing your life that way? Or what if we hold on like Katsuie wants me to? What if we stay here in this castle, lock it up, and wait until the Imagawas lose appetite and stop the siege and go home? We will be able to prolong our lives for five or ten days, and what we cannot defend will still be undefendable. We are at the bottom of the pit, you know. And our fate is interesting. Of course the misery is too great, too. But this is how I see it: this is a chance in a lifetime. I can't afford to miss this. [[DareToBeBadass Do you really want to spend your entire lives praying for longevity? We were born in order to die! Whoever is with me, come to the battlefield tomorrow morning. Whoever is not, just stay wherever you are and watch me win it!]]

* On October 2, 2017, a day after the shooting in Las Vegas, President Creator/DonaldTrump has this to say to the people.
-->''Our unity cannot be shattered by evil. Our bonds cannot be broken with violence. And though we feel such anger at the senseless murder of our fellow citizens, it is our love that defines us today - and always will. Forever.''

[[folder: Fiction]]

-> "''On the Shores of Marik, my friends, the fathers of our fathers made a stand under the flag of Belladon. Did they break and run? Yes! But only in their minds. They ran to friendly places and loved ones, where they could be safe.. and then, by the providence of the God-Emperor, they saw what those friendly places and loved ones would become if they did not stand fast, and so stand fast they did! How do you feel? Belladon blood is like wine on the Emperor's lips! Belladon souls have a special place at his side! If we spill our blood here today, then this is the soil He has chosen to bless and anoint! Oh, lucky land! Stand firm and fire, my friends, stand firm and fire! If they're going to have our precious blood, then they'll find the cost is dearer than they can afford! Fury of Belladon! Fury! Fury!"

-->-- '''Commissar Genadey Novobazky of the Belladon Eighty First''', rallying his men before their last stand against the forces of Chaos on Ancreon Sextus, ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''.

-> "''My brothers... we were forged in victory. A victory that ended the great war and brought forth the reign of Mount Olympus. Born from the depths of the underworld, rooted in the river of souls, our mountain emerged out of the Chaos. As it grew, so too did the might of the Olympians. We created a world of peace, a world of prosperity, a world that lives in the shadow and safety of'' '''''my''''' ''mountain. A mountain that has come to be the absolute measure of strength and power. Now, on this day, that power is to be tested. The mortal [[VillainProtagonist Kratos,]] seeks to [[RageAgainstTheHeavens destroy all that I have wrought]]. Brothers, put aside the petty grievances that have splintered us for so long. We will unite. We will stand together. And I will'' '''''wipe out this plague!''''' '''''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis OLYMPUS... WILL PREVAIL!!!]]'''''"
-->-- '''Zeus''', ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII''

->''"Humans didn’t do this. ''We'' did this. Faunus. We did this to ourselves. We’re just as capable of hate and violence as the humans but I don’t think any of us would jump at the chance to point that out. So why are we letting [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Adam]] do it for us? By [[BystanderSyndrome doing nothing and staying silent, we let others speak and act in our place]], and if we’re not proud of the choices they make then we have no one to blame but ourselves. This is the message Adam Taurus will bring to the world if no one stops him. But we ''can'' stop him! You have to understand that all of you are looking for simple answers to a very complicated problem, and I can’t give that to you. I don’t know how to make hate go away, I don’t. But I know that this kind of violence is not the solution. I understand that to ask you to leave your homes and protect Haven Academy is asking you to put your lives at risk, but that’s what’s at stake. So I’m going, and I’ll stand by myself if I have to!"''
-->--'''Blake Belladonna''' to the inhabitants of Menagerie, ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}''

-> We do not know what our chances of survival are, so we fight as if they were zero. We do not know what we are facing, so we fight as if it was the dark gods themselves. No one will remember us now and we may never be buried beneath Titan, so we will build our own memorial here. The Chapter might lose us and the Imperium might never know we existed, but the Enemy - the Enemy will know. The Enemy will remember. We will hurt it so badly that it will never forget us until the stars burn out and the Emperor vanquishes it at the end of time. When Chaos is dying, its last thought will be of us. That is our memorial -carved into the heart of Chaos. We cannot lose, Grey Knights. We have already won.

-> "Where are you ''running'' to?! This is Bajor! We are Bajorans! We fought a war to regain our homeland! How can you abandon it, like frightened Cardassian vole? These ships are for our guests, who must leave because it is no longer safe here...however, ''we are Bajorans'', and I say that we stay and we solve our own problems...together!"

-> "As far as I'm concerned, the Ferenginar I knew doesn't exist anymore! No. I take that back. It ''will'' exist, right here in this bar! This establishment will be [[MythologyGag the last outpost]] of what made Ferenginar great! The unrelenting lust for profit! Broik! Water the drinks. Imtela! Rig the dabo table! [[HesBack Rom? I want to buy back the bar.]]"
-->-- '''[[ProudMerchantRace Quark]]''', ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', "The Dogs of War"

-> "Zeon's strength was expended in the Battle of Loum! There is no way they can create new soldiers overnight, and Ghiren Zabi knows it. I therefore appeal to all the citizens of the Earth Federation, to each and every one of you. Zeon is exhausted! Now is not the time for us to kneel before Zeon. It is time for us to rise! Now, more than ever, is our chance to defeat Zeon!"
-->-- '''General Revil''', ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam: Awakening'' by Creator/YoshiyukiTomino

* Shakespeare's ''Theatre/HenryV'' gave two memorable {{Rousing Speech}}es:
--> Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;\\

Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'
--->-- ''King Theatre/HenryV'', act 3, scene i, by Creator/WilliamShakespeare

--> If we are mark'd to die, we are enow\\

--->-- ''King Theatre/HenryV'', Act 4 Scene iii, by Creator/WilliamShakespeare.

-> Humans are [[HumansAreWarriors no strangers to war]]. After all, we've been fighting for as long as we can remember. War is all we know. In the past, we fought for [[GreenRocks Imulsion]]. We fought for country. We fought for freedom. But all that changed after E-Day. For 15 years, we've been fighting for our very survival against inhuman, genocidal ''monsters''. It is a fight [[HopelessWar we cannot continue]]. Humanity faces extinction, unless we end this war... ''now''. We had thought the Lightmass Bomb would decimate the Locust Horde, but they survived, and have returned stronger than ever. They brought with them [[SandWorm a force]] that can sink entire cities. Even Jacinto, our last beacon of hope through all these dark days, is now at risk. Soon we'll have nothing left to defend, and that means we have only one option: ...''attack''. Gears, what I ask of you now is not an easy thing, but it is necessary. If we are to survive... if we are to live long enough to see the seasons pass, our children grow, and experience a time of peace that we have never known, we must now take this fight to the Locust. We will go to where they live, and where they breed, and we will destroy them! This is the day we take the battle to the heart of the enemy! This is the day we correct the course of human history! This is the day we ensure our survival as a species! Soldiers of the [[FunWithAcronyms C.O.G.]]... my fellow Gears... go forth, and bring back the hope of humanity!!

-> Marines, the [[BigBad Prophet of Truth]] doesn't know it yet, but he's about to get kicked right off his throne. We will take our city back, and drive our enemy into the grave they've been so happily digging. One final effort is all that remains!

-> You all know the mission, and what is at stake. I have come to trust each of you with my life -- but I have also heard murmurs of discontent. I share your concerns. We are trained for espionage; we would be legends, but the records are sealed. Glory in battle is not our way. Think of our heroes; the Silent Step, who defeated a nation with a single shot. Or the Ever Alert, who kept armies at bay with hidden facts. These giants do not seem to give us solace here, but they are not all that we are. Before the network, there was the fleet. Before diplomacy, there were ''soldiers''. Our influence stopped the rachni, but before that we held the line! Our influence stopped the krogan, but before that, we held the line! Our influence will stop Saren; in the battle today, we will hold the line!
-->-- '''Captain Kirrahe''', ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', with [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic appropriate music.]]

->'''Hera:''' Captain? Captain, can you hear me?\\
'''Lovelace:''' ''(quietly mumbling)'' Go, go home, go, go home, go, go back to the, back to th', back to th' ''(unillegible)'' m'kay, no, we can't, we can't, we can't, we can't...\\
'''Hera:''' Alright... Sounds like you still... Need a moment.\\
'''Lovelace:''' ''(barely audible)'' Wait, we, we... ''(trails off)''\\
'''Hera:''' Listen. I know we haven't... Well, we're not close. But... I think I get what you're going through. The others haven't had a hole in their head. I ''know'' how painful this is. How disorienting. I ''so'' want to tell you to take your time. To know that if you're not alright, you're not alright, and that's ''fine!'' But that's not how this works. Because right now, the people we care about are in over their heads. So you are going to come help us save the day. Again. Now. ''Get. Up.''
-->--''Podcast/Wolf359''

-> Words shouldn't matter. People have '''died'''. If losing our friends isn't enough, if that doesn't make you want payback, then what are we doing here?\\
The Collectors blindside their targets. Hit and run. As powerful as they are, they're cowards. They've never had to stand and fight the best of us -- that's you.\\
I don't know if they can feel fear, but we're damned sure going to give them the opportunity. Hit them hard! One way or another, it ends '''here'''!
-->-- '''Commander Shepard''', ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', final battle at the Collector Base (Renegade version)

-> We've lost some good people. They gave ''everything'' to get us here. It's up to us to make it mean something and do them justice.\\
The Collectors, the Reapers... they aren't a threat to us. They're a threat to ''everything'' -- ''everyone''. '''Those''' are the lives we're fighting for. '''That''''s the scale.\\
It's been a long journey, and no one's coming out without scars. But it all comes down to this moment. We win or lose it all in the next few moments. Make me proud. Make ''yourselves'' proud.
-->-- '''Commander Shepard''', ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', final battle at the Collector Base (Paragon version)

-> This is the Admiral. You've heard the news, you know the mission. You should also know there is only one way that this mission ends: and that's with the successful rescue of our people, off of New Caprica. Look around you. Take a good look at the men and women that stand next to you. Remember their faces, for one day you will tell your children and your grandchildren that you served with such men and women as the universe has never seen. And together, you'll accomplish the feat that will be told and retold down through the ages, and find immortality as only the gods once knew. I'm proud to serve with you. Good hunting.
-->-- '''William Adama''', ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}''

-> Here we are in the mouth of Hell, and we made it this far by leanin' on each other. That thing may be the key to stoppin' the Queen of Blades, but it's our sweat and blood that'll make it happen. After everything we've been through, past all the fire and fury, the one thing I know is that we can count on each other to get the job done. Or die trying, if that's what it takes. ...Because some things are just worth fighting for.

'''Artanis''': My brethren, hear me, for there is little time left. All that remains of our race, our civilization, are those that stand beside you now. Trust in each other. Strike as ''one will''. Let our last stand burn a memory so bright we will be remembered ''forever''. ''En taro Tassadar!''
-->-- the protoss prepare for battle against the Dark Voice, ''Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty''

-> [[ContemplateOurNavels Let me ask you two a question: You ever wonder why we're here?]] ... No, I mean you! What are YOU doing here? [[BrilliantButLazy You always act like you want to quit, but hell, you could've left whenever you wanted!]] No one would have stopped you, so why are you here? [[ProfessionalButtKisser And you, Simmons! You say you want to be in charge.]] [[TVGenius They would've given you your own squad a dozen times over!]] You know it, and I know it, but you're still here. [[TookALevelInBadass And you, Tucker: Much as I hate to admit it, you're actually good at being a soldier.]] ...[[DoubleEntendre I know you like to make your rude comments,]] [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass and pretend like it all doesn't matter,]] [[TheChosenOne but an entire alien race chose you to be their hero!]] So why are you here? [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg And Caboose, um... It's good to see you.]] ...[[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Maybe you're all here because this is the only place you fit in. Maybe you're here because you don't have anywhere else to go.]] [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments Or maybe you're all here because, deep down, you want to be here.]] The reason doesn't matter. What matters is that you're here! For all we know, Tex and Church are dead. That means we're the only ones that know what's happened, the only ones that can prevent them from covering it up. So the way I figure it, if these Freelancer guys will use us, take us away from our families, and send us all over the dad-gum galaxy just to test if their agents are ready for the big fight, well, I guess I'm interested in showing them exactly what a big fight is all about! It's time to clean the slate! [[AFatherToHisMen So I'm not ordering you to go. I ain't even asking. You do what you gotta do, Private Grif.]]
-->-- '''Sarge''', ''Machinima/RedVsBlue: Revelation''

->"Out of nationalism, ninja have hated each other for many years, from the First to the Third Great Ninja Wars. That hatred bred a lust for power which gave birth to me. I, too, used to be a [[PersonOfMassDestruction Jinchuriki]], the embodiment of those two vices. I hated this world and all people. I yearned to destroy both. In some ways, [[NotSoDifferent I was no different from the Akatsuki]]. But, one Leaf Ninja stopped me... [[AllLovingHero That ninja cried for me, his enemy. He called me friend, even though we had fiercely battled each other!]] He saved me! We were both on different sides, but we were both Jinchuriki! [[ASharedSuffering There can be no bad blood between those who have experienced the same pain!]]

->"There are no enemies here in front of me, for we all bear the pain of having been hurt by the Akatsuki! There is no Sand, no Stone, no Leaf, no Mist, or Cloud! We are all simply ninja! If you still can't forgive the Sand, you can come back and face me when the war is over! That friend who saved me is now a target of our enemy! If he falls into their hands, [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the world as we know it is finished!]] I want to protect that friend, and this world!

->"[[AChildShallLeadThem I am too young, too inexperienced]]! So please, lend me your strength! All who feel as I do, ''follow me''!"
-->-- '''Gaara of the Sand''', ''VideoGame/NarutoShippudenUltimateNinjaStorm3''

->"Calling all Snow Pirates on E.D.N. III. I have a warning of utmost urgency. The military force you know as NEVEC are planning something that will be catastrophic for all who dwell on this planet. I know this because [[HeelFaceTurn I used to work for NEVEC]]. I believed in their goal to bring order to this planet. Now I know that goal was a lie, and their true aims have always been to amass thermal energy. That is why I abandoned NEVEC. Now they are trying to awaken the slumbering Over-G Akrid that lies beneath the planet's surface, and this will unleash massive amounts of thermal energy. NEVEC will take all this thermal energy, and then abandon the planet to its fate. But that is not all. If NEVEC is not stopped, and we do not prevent the awakening of the Over-G, then the sudden and terrible introduction of such large quantities of thermal energy will set off a reaction that will freeze this planet to its very core and kill everyone and everything living here.

->"For the better part of a century, you assumed that any land you had could be lost at any time, and if that happened, you would just start over somewhere else. But there is nowhere else this time. Our place is here, on this planet. Our ancestors built a place for themselves here thanks to their indomitable spirit and the strength of their resolve. Now it is time to tap into that same resolve to protect what they struggled to build.

->"To all Snow Pirates on E.D.N. III: if you can hear my voice, then I beseech you to put aside your differences and stand with me as one. Let us show NEVEC what happens when they threaten our home.
-->--'''EX-NEVEC Commander''', ''VideoGame/LostPlanet2''

-> The sky people have sent us a message, that they can take whatever they want and no one can stop them. But we will send them a message. You ride out, as fast as the wind can carry you! You tell the other clans to come. Tell them Toruk Makto calls to them. You fly now, with me, my brothers! my sisters! And we will show the sky people that they cannot take whatever they want. And that this... this is our land!
-->-- '''Jake Sully''', ''Film/{{Avatar}}''

-> Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. "Mankind." That word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps it's fate that today is the Fourth of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom... Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution... but from annihilation. We are fighting for our right to live. To exist. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice: "We will not go quietly into the night!" We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate our [[TitleDrop Independence Day!]]
-->-- '''President Whitmore''', ''Film/IndependenceDay''

-> Today. Today... At the edge of our hope, at the end of our time, we have chosen not only to believe in ourselves, but in each other. Today there is not a man nor woman in here that shall stand alone. Not today. Today we face the monsters that are at our door and bring the fight to them! Today, we are canceling the apocalypse!
-->-- '''Stacker Pentecost''', ''Film/PacificRim''

->'''Bluto''': What? Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no! And it ain't over now! 'Cause when the going gets tough...the tough get going! Who's with me? Let's go! (runs out, alone; then returns) What the fuck happened to the Delta I used to know? Where's the spirit? Where's the guts, huh? This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you're gonna let it be the worst. "Ooh, we're afraid to go with you Bluto, we might get in trouble." Well just kiss my ass from now on! Not me! I'm not gonna take this. Wormer, he's a dead man! Marmalard, dead! Niedermeyer...\\
'''Otter''': Dead! Bluto's right. Psychotic, but absolutely right. We gotta take these bastards. Now we could do it with conventional weapons, but that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part!\\
'''Bluto''': We're just the guys to do it.\\
'''Boon''': Let's do it.\\
'''Bluto''': Let's DO IT!!!
-->-- ''Film/AnimalHouse''

->"My friends, it has often been said that I like war. Friends, I like war. No, friends, I love war!\\
I love holocausts. I love blitzkriegs. I love defensive lines. I love sieges, charges, I love mop-up operations, and retreats.\\
Wars across prairies, in streets, in trenches, in grasslands, in frozen tundras, through deserts, on the sea, in the air, I love every act of war that can occur upon this earth.\\
I love blasting the enemy to smithereens with artillery salvos that thunder across the lines of battle.\\
My heart leaps with joy whenever a soldier is tossed high into the air and cut to pieces by well placed sniper rounds.\\
And there is nothing like a tank operator using a Tiger 88 to destroy enemy tanks. And the feeling that comes when a soldier runs screaming from his blazing tank only to be mowed down by heavy machine gun fire, is such an exquisite feeling.\\
Like when ranks of infantry brandish their bayonets rushing into the enemy line. It moves me deep within my heart to watch a fresh recruit stabbing over and over into the bloated chest of a long-dead enemy.\\
The sight of deserters being strung up from a street lamp is an irresistible pleasure. And there is nothing more arousing, than the sounds made by prisoners of war dropping like flies, screaming in agony as they're mowed down by ear piercing schmeissers!\\
When a band of pitiful resistance fighters makes their final stands with nothing but small arms, only to have their city smashed to atoms block by block by 4.8 ton bombshells, I'm in ecstasy.\\
I love it when my forces are ravaged by a Russian armored division. It's so sad to see towns and villages that were supposed to be defended at all costs, being laid to waste, their women and children being raped, and killed.\\
I love to be squashed under the heel of the British and American war machines. The humiliation, as my men crawl around like vermin, ducking the Jag bombers flying overhead.\\
Gentlemen... All I ask for is war, a war so grand as to make Hell itself tremble. Gentlemen, I ask you as fellow brothers in arms, what is it you really want? Do you wish for further war as I do? Do you wish for a merciless, bloody war? A war whose fury is built with iron, and lightning, and fire? Do you ask for war to sweep in like a tempest, leaving not even ravens to scavenge, from this Earth!?"\\
Very well. Then krieg is what you shall have. We are a clenched fist, ready to strike down all who oppose us, with our might. But.. After enduring over half a century wallowing in the darkness, for us, a simple *ordinary* war will no longer be sufficient. We need a MASSIVE war! A war beyond any other that man's history has never known!\\
We are but a single battalion.. The remnants of of defeated army numbering less than a thousand strong. However, I believe that each of you old warriors is worth a thousand of their sickly soft children! We represent a force that could easily defeat an army of a million and one men! It is time for them to awake the ones who sent us screaming into oblivion, and who now lie sleeping. Let's drag them out of bed by the hair, and remind them of what we are! We will remind them of what it feels like to live in fear. We will remind them of the sound our jackboots make against their throats. We will remind them, that there are more things between Heaven and Hell than are dreamt of in their philosophy.\\
Our Kampfgruppe of one thousand vampires will burn this world down to ash. Yes, my friends! Soon, Europe's charred remains will illuminate the night sky! I have brought you all back just as I promised I would. Back to our favorite battlefield. Back to our beloved war!\\
At last, the sea lion has crossed the ocean and is heading up the hill! Attention soldiers of the Millennium battalion, this is a message from your commander:\\
Friends...let's bring them Hell."
-->--'''The Major''', ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}''

->This is - this is the President.\\
I've just been informed that our mid-range military bases at Beta Durani and Proxima Three have fallen to the Minbari advance. We've lost contact with Io and must conclude that they, too, have fallen to an advance force.\\
Our military intelligence believes that the Minbari intend to bypass Mars and hit Earth directly, and the attack may come at any time.\\
We have continued to broadcast our surrender and a plea for mercy, and they have not responded. We therefore can only conclude that we stand at the twilight of the human race.\\
In order to buy more time for our evacuation transports to leave Earth, we ask for the support of every ship capable of fighting, to take part in a last defense of our homeworld. We will not lie to you - we do not believe that survival is a possibility. We believe that anyone who joins this battle... will never come home. But for every ten minutes we can delay the military advance, several hundred more civilians may have a chance to escape to neutral territory. Though Earth may fall, the human race must have a chance to continue elsewhere.\\
No greater sacrifice has ever been asked of a people, but I ask you now: to step forward one last time - one last battle to hold the line against the night.\\
May God go with you all.
-->--'''The President of Earth''', ''Series/BabylonFive: [[Recap/BabylonFiveFilm01InTheBeginning In The Beginning]]''

->[[ToThePain Enemies of the Imperium]], hear me: you have come here to '''die'''.\\
The [[GodEmperor Immortal Emperor]] is with us, and we are ''invincible''.\\
[[RedshirtArmy His soldiers]] will strike you down. [[TankGoodness His war machines]] will crush you under their treads. [[{{BFG}} His mighty guns]] will [[DeathFromAbove bring the very sky crashing down upon you]]. You '''cannot''' win. The Emperor has given us [[WaveMotionGun his greatest weapon]] to wield, so make yourselves ready.\\
[[BadassBoast We are the First Kronus Regiment, and today is our Victory Day!]]
-->--'''Governor-Militant Lukas Alexander''', ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar: Dark Crusade'', when the Imperial Guard stronghold is attacked.

->Today the enemy is at our doorstep, and thinks he can push us of this world. He is already gloating. He can ''taste'' his victory. But what he fails to see is that we will make this his last meal! The Chief Librarian has ordered the purge of this world to protect our Chapter's secrets. Are we to retreat with our duty unfulfilled? Are we to let a black mark stain the banner of the Blood Ravens? I say that we will not! I say our enemies will regret the day they ever decided to face us in battle! Our Battle Barge orbits overhead and will [[DeathFromAbove rain the Emperor's holy fury]] on our opponents! More of our brothers will come to join the fight, but as always our enemy outnumbers us. Each of you [[OneManArmy must be an army in your own right!]] Veterans of the First Company, the finest of the entire Chapter, stand with us! Let their valor guide your fire into the enemy's heart! Remember that we are Blood Ravens, brothers. We have all sworn to protect fonts of hidden knowledge. [[LastStand Each one of us must fall before handing this world to the enemy]]. The Emperor is with us! The Unknown Primarch is with us! [[BadassBoast They have come for our blood, but they will drown in their own]]!
-->-- '''Captain Thule''', '''''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'''''

->Faithful... Enlightened... Ambitious... Brethren. In but a few decades, a mere few swipes of the pendulum, we have gathered a sacrifice to Khorne, that ''will be made legend''. Though it was a simpler, ''weaker'' voice that first illuminated me during my centuries upon the Judgement of Carrion. It was Khorne's messenger, who showed me the true path to freedom, from our pathetic corpse-Emperor. And what is this path, this meaning, this purpose, to which we gather the skulls of our foes?\\
\\
It is nothing. There is no path, no meaning, no purpose. We murder. We kill, it is mindless savagery, this, ''universe'' is mindless. In mere hours, billions will die: innocent, guilty, strong and weak, honest and deceitful, ALL OF THEM! They will scream, they will ''burn'', and for no purpose, but that mighty Khorne may revel in their bloodshed.\\
\\
And united, in this void, of purpose, fear or duty... We, shall at long last, be ''FREE!!!''\\
\\
BLOOD! FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS! FOR THE SKULL THRONE!\\
\\
LET! THE GALAXY! BURNNNNNNN!!!!!
-->-- '''[[spoiler:Chapter Master Azariah Kyras]]''', '''''VideoGame/DawnOfWar II: Retribution'''''

->''"Citizens of Berlin! A ring of steel surrounds your rotten city! We will crush all who still dare to resist the will of the Red Army! Abandon your posts! Abandon your homes! Abandon all hope! Ura!"''
-->-- '''Commissar Markhov''', ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty: World At War''

->Friends! This island is a great and wonderful place. Never have any been as blessed as we are to live in such a paradise! I love my home, and Jaller loved it too. But, most of all, [[HeroicSacrifice Jaller respected his duty]]! Let us repay him by doing ''our'' duty! Let us remember him by fulfilling our destiny. Let us go forward together! Let us awaken the Great Spirit!
-->-- '''Hahli''', Toys/{{Bionicle}}: Mask of Light

->''"Never before have so many come together - from all quarters of the galaxy. But never before have we faced an enemy such as this. The Reapers will show us no mercy. We must give them no quarter. They will terrorize our populations. We must stand fast in the face of that terror. They will advance until our last city falls, but we will not fall. We will prevail. Each of us will be defined by our actions in the coming battle. Stand fast. Stand strong. Stand together. Hackett out"''
-->-- '''Admiral Steven Hackett''', ''VideoGame/MassEffect3''

->You hear that? That's the mating call of the Northmen! They want to fuck us! Well, I haven't had a good fuck in weeks! I'm ready for one! They say every ironborn man is worth a dozen from the mainland. You think they're right? We die today brothers! We die bleeding from a hundred wounds with arrows in our necks and spears in our guts! But our warcries will echo through eternity! They will sing about the Battle of Winterfell until the Iron Islands have slipped beneath the waves! Every man, woman, and child will know who we were and how long we stood! Aggar and Gelmar! Wex and Urzen! Styg and Black Lorren! Ironborn warriors will cry out our names as they leap onto the shores of Seagard and Faircastle! Mothers will name their sons after us! Girls will think of us with their lovers inside them! ''AND WHOEVER KILLS THAT FUCKING HORNBLOWER WILL STAND IN BRONZE ABOVE THE SHORES OF PYKE! '''WHAT IS DEAD MAY NEVER DIE!'''''
-->--'''Theon Greyjoy''', ''Series/GameOfThrones'' [[note]][[SubvertedTrope Right before his own men knock him out and surrender anyway.]] They do acknowledge it was a good speech.[[/note]]

->"Don't fight for your king, and don't fight for his kingdoms. Don't fight for honor, don't fight for glory, don't fight for riches, because you won't get any. That is ''your'' gate Stannis means to break down, this is ''your'' city he means to sack. If they get in, it will be your homes they will burn, your gold they will steal, your women they will rape. Those are brave men knocking at our door. Let's go kill them!"
-->--'''Tyrion Lannister''', ''Series/GameOfThrones''

->"Brothers! One hundred generations have held this castle. She's never fallen before. She will not fall tonight. Those are Thenns at our walls. They eat the flesh of the men they kill. Do you want to end up filling the belly of a Thenn tonight? [...] Tonight we fight! And when the sun rises, I promise you, Castle Black will stand! The Night's Watch will stand! [[BattleCry With me now! Now, with me!]]"
-->--'''Ser Alliser Thorne''', ''Series/GameOfThrones''

->"How much blood has been shed? How many tears spilled? All of our friends who fought beside us are dead, killed in the last three years. But even as justice can never be vanquished, we terrorists will never vanish, however evil they deem us. Because we know, that a handful of adults, a handful of nations selfishly define the nature of peace and freedom in this world. But our world is so much more complex that. This world has 63 Billion people living their own lives, living 63 billion different ways, 63 billion kinds of peace, 63 billion kinds of concepts of what is "good", 63 billion kinds of war and evil. No one has achieved peace without fighting for it. Behind every peace, there's a river of blood, sweat and tears. But if we avert our eyes from that history and abandon it, then peace might as well be dog shit. Japan, China, North Korea, Guatemala, Indonesia, Cuba, Congo, Peru, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Grenada, Libya, El Salvador, Panama, Bolivia, Kuwait, Sudan, Somalia...Afghanistan. You may be lonely, but it's time to stop being afraid. To all the abandoned children on earth, Let's rise up together and fight together! We're throwing away the old rules, taking of to a place far, far away! Tonight, I send this message to all the adults who stole our freedom and pinned us down. Merry Christmas. Wild Seven and Nanahara Shuya."
-->-- '''Nanahara Shuya''', ''Film/BattleRoyale''

->"Troopers! I have just received new orders. Our superiors say the war is canceled, and we can all go home. Bison is getting paid off for his crimes, and our friends who have died here... will have died for nothing. But... we can all go home. Meanwhile, ideals like peace, freedom, and justice... they get packed up. But... we can all go home. Well... I'm not going home. I'm gonna get on my boat, and I'm going up-river, and I'm going to kick that son-of-a-bitch Bison's ass so HARD... that the next Bison wanna-be is gonna FEEL it. Now who wants to go home... and who wants to go with ME?!"
-->--'''William F. Guile''', ''Film/StreetFighter''

->"Forth, and fear no darkness! Arise! Arise, Riders of Théoden! Spears shall be shaken! Shields shall be splintered! ''A sword day, a red day, ere the sun rises!'' Ride now! Ride now! RIDE! Ride to ruin, and the world's ending! DEATH! '''FORTH EORLINGAS!'''"
-->--'''Théoden''', ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings: The Return of the King''

->"Sons of Gondor! Of Rohan! My brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of Men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day. A hour of wolves and shattered shields, as the Age of Men comes crashing down! But it is ''not'' this day. This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you STAND! MEN! OF THE WEST!"
-->--'''Aragorn''', ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings: The Return of the King''

->"It doesn't matter that [[DisneyDeath Harry's gone]]. People die every day - friends, family. Yea, we lost Harry tonight. But he's still with us in here (gestures to heart). So's Fred, Remus, Tonks, all of them. They didn't die in vain. But you will! Because you're wrong! Harry's heart did beat for us! For all of us! It's not over!
-->--'''Neville Longbottom''', ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows''[[note]]In the book, he simply says, "I'll join you when hell freezes over! Dumbledore's Army!"[[/note]]

->"I know fear swells within your breast, and it does so with great cause. The Romans hold numbers far outweighing our own; yet they have revealed, time and again fatal flaw. That they believe: the Roman way, is the only one. Just as they believe there is only one way to leave this mountain. We shall teach them that we forge our own paths, and nothing in this world is impossible-–when heart and mind are put towards it... Let us begin a lesson forever remembered... we are all Gods this night, and the Romans, WILL FEEL OUR WRATH!"
-->--'''Spartacus''', ''[[Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand Spartacus: Vengeance]]''

->"This is egg salad. It's loaded with cholesterol. The wife won't even let me touch it. Hardly seems to matter now, 'cause chances are, we're already dead. Amazing is gone. There's no use waiting for the cavalry, because as of this moment, the cavalry is us. This is our fight, whether we like it or not. Just we few. We're not your classic superheroes. We're not the favorites. We're the other guys. We're the guys nobody ever bets on. But I'll tell you what I think." (to Bowler) "I think you and that ball of yours have an appointment that you gotta keep." (to Invisible Boy) "Invisible Boy, I think it's time you were seen." (to Sphinx) "Sphinx, you have trained us well." (to Heller) "And Dr. Heller, you might just have given us the edge we need." (to Spleen) "And Spleen. I don't wanna stand behind you. But I'll fight beside you with pride." (to Raja) "Jeff. You've got a rare and beautiful gift. The city needs you tonight." (to Furious) "And Roy, in all the years I've known you, I've never seen you walk away from a fight. Why you lifted a city bus once, man. I think you've got what it takes to handle Casanova." (to everyone) "We're all in over our heads, and we know it. But if we take on this fight, those of us who survive it will forever after show our scars with pride, and say, 'That's right! I was there! I fought the good fight!' So whatdaya say? Do we all gather together, and go kick some Casanova butt? ''Or do I eat this sandwich?''"
-->--'''The Shoveler''', ''Film/MysteryMen''

->"Yes! Fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live ... at least awhile. And dying in your bed many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just ''one chance'', to come back here as young men and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they will never take our freedom!"
-->--'''William Wallace''', ''Film/{{Braveheart}}''

->"My fellow Americans...my fellow Saints...today is a day unlike any day that came before it, for on this day, we must administer the biggest smackdown in the history of mankind, and take our freedom back from the anal-probing overlords that oppress us! We will fight them in the skies! We will fight them in the streets! We will fight them in text-based roleplaying adventures! On this day, we free our homies! We free our inhibitions! We free America! And we free ''the whole fucking planet''!"
-->--'''Creator/KeithDavid''', ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL91fA2Z2gc Independence Day trailer]])

* The rousing speech is practically [[RebelLeader Ulfric Stormcloak's]] stock-in-trade in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim''.
-->"I fight for the men I've held in my arms, dying on foreign soil! I fight for their wives and children, whose names I heard whispered in their last breaths! I fight for we few who did come home, only to find our country full of strangers wearing familiar faces! I fight for my people, impoverished to pay the debts of an Empire too weak to rule them, yet brands them criminals for wanting to rule themselves! ''I fight so that all the fighting I've already done hasn't been for nothing!'' I fight...because I must."

-->"This is it, men! It's time to make this city ours! We come to this moment carried by the sacrifices and courage of our fellows. Those who have fallen. And those still bearing the shields to our right. On this day our enemy will know the fullness of our determination, the true depth of our anger, and the exalted righteousness of our cause! The gods are watching! The spirits of our ancestors are stirring! And men under suns yet to dawn will be transformed by what we do here today! Fear neither pain, nor darkness. For Sovngarde awaits those who die with weapons in their hands, and courage in their hearts! We now fight our way to Castle Dour to cut the head off the Legion itself. And in that moment, the gods will look down and see Skyrim as she was '''meant''' to be. Full of Nords who are mighty, powerful, and free! Ready now! Everyone, with me! For the sons and daughters of Skyrim! '''RAAAAAARGH!'''"

->"Yes friends, act now! Destroy Unicron! Kill the Grand Poobah! Eliminate even the toughest stains!"
-->--'''Wreck-Gar''', ''WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie''

->"For too long, we've allowed these vampires to poison the night and kill our people! Now we finally have the means to strike back! We now have Auriel's Bow. The gods themselves have favored us and we must answer with ''action''! The time has come to finally put an end to [[EvilOverlord Harkon]] and his unholy prophecy! We will march on their lair and destroy those wretched abominations so they can no longer corrupt our world! This is our fight and this is our fate. This is the time of the ''Dawnguard''!"
-->--'''Isran''', ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim: Dawnguard''

->''"Oh, hell no! We are not apologizing to them! We are'' ready ''for the weird! We'' thrive ''on it! We tape our flamethrowers to our pulse rifles, and we make the weird submit! [[ItMakesSenseInContext We're going to the library]]!"''
-->--'''[=LaFontaine=]''', ''WebVideo/CarmillaTheSeries'', episode 26

* Aaron Kimball, President of the [[TheFederation New California Republic]] before the battle of Hoover Dam:
-->''Thank you, my fellow Californians, who have come so far to answer the call to service put forth by the republic. It is for you that I have come here, and it is because of you that I am able to do so. We enjoy our privileges because you take the greatest of risks and are prepared to make [[HeroicSacrifice the most noble of sacrifices]]. It is because of men and women like Private First Class Jeremy Watson that Nevada and the New California Republic remain free and secure.\\\
Born in a tin shack on the outskirts of One Pine, Jeremy Watson never had it easy. His father worked as a caravan guard on the Short Loop, and his mother, like many Californians, braved the ruins of the Old World as a prospector. They suffered through water shortages, raider attacks, and the Brotherhood War. Like our mighty Sierra Nevadas, they endured. But the time came when they could no longer shoulder the burden alone. Twelve years ago, they called out for help, and the republic heard them.\\\
[[BadassNormal Troopers]] and [[EliteMooks rangers]], just like you, answered the clarion call. Men and women stepped forward to say, "I will carry the weight." And at Owen's Lake, we made true on our promise, driving out the raider tribes to establish a lasting peace in the eastern Sierra Nevadas. We carried the weight, and though we left behind many of our brothers and sisters on that battlefield, it did not break us.\\\
Ten years ago, Chief Elise met with representatives of the Desert Rangers to discuss terms of what would become the Ranger Unification Treaty. The treaty was more than a resolution to welcome the Desert Rangers into the republic. It was a covenant to protect southern Nevada against [[BigBad Caesar's Legion]] and the tyranny of his regime.\\\
There are some back home who ask me, "But who are we protecting? What is Nevada to us?" Sometimes we forget that the light of our society shines beyond our borders. Sometimes we take those privileges for granted that our forebears fought so hard to achieve. We must always remember that wherever Californians stand, we carry our principles with us: equal respect, representation, and protection under the laws of a just republic. This was the same fire that burned in the heart of the Old World that preceded us. We are the heirs of that civilization, torchbearers eastward of the Pacific, into the darkness of this [[CrapsackWorld wasted land]].\\\
When the republic called on the men and women of California to carry that fire across the Mojave, Jeremy Watson answered. You answered. Together, you carried the weight. And when PFC Watson's platoon came under attack at Forlorn Hope, he took the greatest risk, not only for his fellow Californians, but for California itself. He was prepared to make the most noble of sacrifices, to defend the principles of our republic, even here, on Nevada soil.\\\
His actions are a beacon to all of us who stand here today in tribute to his valor. Private First Class Jeremy Watson, on behalf of the senate and people of the New California Republic, it is my honor to present you with the Star of Sierra Madre.\\\
Not far from this spot, a monument stands as a tribute to the sacrifice made by those who came before us, the men and women who fulfilled the promise we made to the Desert Rangers. Its back is inscribed with the names of the troopers and rangers who carried the weight. And because they made the most noble of sacrifices, it did not break us.\\\
Four years ago, we held this dam. Four years ago, we carried the weight. Four years ago, we drew a line through the Mojave as clear as the Colorado River, a line that Caesar cannot cross. Today, you stand here with our brothers and sisters to hold that line. Today, you honor all Californians by carrying that weight. Today, you are the waves of the Pacific, pushing ever eastward. You are the sequoias rising from the Sierra Nevadas, defiant and enduring. You are the great western light of California, torchbearers in the darkness, living reminders of all that is best in our republic."
--->-- ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas''

->'''Hancock''': "We freaks gotta stick together, and the best way to stick together is to keep an eye out for what drives us apart, you feel me? Now, what out there in the big friendly Commonwealth would want to drive us apart? What kind of twisted, un-neighborly boogeyman would want to hurt our peaceful community?"\\
'''Drifter''': "The Institute and their synths!"\\
'''Hancock''': "That's right! Who said that? Come on up to my office later, you've earned yourself some Jet! The Institute, they're the real enemy! Not the raiders, not the Super Mutants, not even those ''tools'' over in Diamond City."\\
'''Neighboorhood Watch''': "I dunno, Hancock, I'd sure love to give [=McDonough=] a kick in the ass!"\\
'''Hancock''': "Hey, we all know why I got my own personal beef with that lard-head, but stay focused. Now, I want everyone to keep the Institute in mind. When someone starts acting funny, when people are doing things they don't normally do, when family starts pushing you away for no reason, we all know who's behind that kind of shit, and the only way to stop it is to stick together! They can't control us if we're not afraid! Now, who's scared of the Institute?!"\\
'''Everyone''': "''Not us!''"\\
'''Hancock''': "And which town in the Commonwealth should the Institute not fuck with?!"\\
'''Everyone''': "''Goodneighbor!''"\\
'''Hancock''': "And who's in charge of Goodneighbor?!"\\
'''Everyone''': "''Hancock! Of the people, for the people!''"
-->-- ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}''

->"Brothers and Sisters, the road behind has been long and fraught with difficulty. Each and every one of you has surpassed my expectations by rapidly facilitating our arrival in the Commonwealth. You have accomplished this amazing feat without a hint of purpose or direction, and most impressively, without question.\\
\\
"Now that the ship is in position, it is time to reveal our purpose, and our mission. Beneath the Commonwealth, there is a cancer known as the Institute. A malignant growth that needs to be cut before it infects the surface. They are experimenting with dangerous technologies that could prove to be the world's undoing for the second time in recent history!\\
\\
"The Institute scientists have created a weapon that transcends the destructive nature of the atom bomb. They call their creation the "synth": [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot a robotic abomination of technology that is free-thinking and masquerades as a human being]]. [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman This notion that a machine could be granted free will is not only offensive, but horribly dangerous]], and like the atom bomb, if it isn't harnessed correctly, it has the potential of rendering us extinct as a species! I am not prepared to allow the Institute to continue this line of experimentation! Therefore, the Institute and their "synths" are considered enemies of the Brotherhood of Steel, and should be dealt with swiftly and mercilessly!\\
\\
"This campaign will be costly, and many lives will be lost, but in the end, we will be saving humankind from it's worst enemy...''itself''!\\
\\
"''Ad victorium!''"
-->--'''Elder Arthur Maxon''', ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}''

->"You get back here, you pious candyass sidewinder! Ain't ''no way'' that ''nobody'' is gonna leave this town! Hell, I was born here, n' I was raised here, n' dadgummit, I'm gonna die here! N' no sidewindin', bushwhackin', hornswogglin' ''cracker croaker'' is gonna rowaway bisicutter!"
-->--'''Gabby Johnson''', ''Film/BlazingSaddles''

-->--''' John Egbert''', ''WebComic/{{Homestuck}}''

--> ''General'': Brave soldiers of Repliforce, we have all been wrongfully judged as Mavericks by the humans. We cannot suffer this indignity and live in disgrace. We will build our own nation of Reploids. But remember, this is neither about insurrection, or rebellion against our human creators. This is about our liberty and security. We must battle for our own individual rights, and our own survival. Together we will build our own nation, a sanctuary for all Reploids, our own Utopia. Let us forge onward towards a new golden era for the Repliforce.
--> '''Colonel''': I, too, share the General's sentiment. Take heed, we have no other choice. Let us fight vehemently, with courage and pride, without fear—for we are the Repliforce. [[BadassBoast The most powerful army in history!]]
-->-- ''VideoGame/MegaManX4''

--> '''Elincia''': Hear me! Brave fighting men of Crimea! Much have you lost in service to your land. Hear me! Beloved friends of the laguz! You, too, have given all for our fair cause. Hear me! My trusted company of old! You men of Greil did see me to this day. I stand before you made of flesh and bone, alive because you risked your lives for me. A word cannot my thanks express in kind... We march today into the jaws of fate; our enemy lies in wait o'er this hill. If on the 'morrow, Ashnard lives no more, my fondest dream is to among you walk and give you each my heartfelt thanks anew. Let not this dream dissolve into despair! We will defeat the dreaded king of Daein! We will reclaim this land we hold so dear. Lend me your strength! Lend me your weary hearts! Today we make our fate for good and all. One life can make a mark upon this world. One life can move the wheel of history. Be that one life! Fight well! Fight brave! Fight true.
--> '''Ike''': Before this final battle, there's only one thing I want to tell all of you... I don't want any of you dying on me! Remember - you only have one life! At a time like this, it doesn't matter what our blood ties are. We are family. That's what my father always used to say. And today... for the first time... I understand why he said it... Because we are a family. So if you don't want to cause your family any grief, then live! Don't drop your guard! Don't turn your back! Use every drop of your strength! Our road has been long, but it ends today! Let's liberate Crimea and free our friends... and our families... from Daein's tyranny! Men of Crimea... Laguz of Tellius... Greil Mercenaries... MOVE OUT!!
-->-- ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance]]''

--> The world got its wakeup call. And now they know the truth: ADVENT is a lie. And their time is up. They've got a full-fledged war on their hands now. While the aliens struggle to contain our world, we're going to make a move on theirs. It won't be easy... But you're used to that. You did what was needed, and never gave up the fight. You are XCOM. And you're gonna end this. Humanity is counting on us, people. Good luck, Commander.
-->-- '''Central Officer John Bradford''', ''VideoGame/XCOM2''

--> ''Comrades, this is your captain. It is an honor to speak to you today, and I am honored to be sailing with you on the maiden voyage of our Motherland's most recent achievement. And once more, we play our dangerous game: a game of chess against our old adversary, the American navy. For forty years, your fathers before you, and your older brothers, played this game, and played it well. But today the game is different! ''We'' have the advantage! It reminds me of the heady days of Sputnik and Yuri Gagarin, when the world trembled at the sound of our rockets. Well, they shall tremble again, at the sound of our silence. The order is: engage for silent drive! [...] Comrades, our own fleet doesn't know our full potential. They will do everything possible to test us, but they will only test their own embarrassment. We shall leave our fleet behind. We'll pass through the American patrols, past their SONAR nets, and lay off their largest city and listen to their "rock and roll" while we conduct missile drills. And when we are finished, the only sound they will hear is our laughter, while we sail to Havana, where the sun is warm and so is the comradeship. A great day, comrades! We sail into history!''
-->--'''Captain 1st Rank Marko Ramius''', ''Film/TheHuntForRedOctober''

--> ''Now what could you possibly be angry about? Your two friends won that fight without even throwing a punch! I respected the way you treated them back there. You've got nerves of steel, lady! Zehahahaha! This "New Era" they keep rambling on and on about is a load of crap! The era where pirates dream of treasure will come to an end?! Yeah right! Zehahahaha! THE DREAMS OF PIRATES... WILL NEVER END! AM I RIGHT?! One-upping your peers isn't easy! Zehahahahaha! They can laugh at us all they want. Because when you aim high, you often come across fights that just aren't worth fighting. Right?''
-->--'''Blackbeard''', ''Manga/OnePiece''

->"''Destiny is a gift. Some go their entire lives, living existence as a quiet desperation. Never learning the truth that what feels as though a burden pushing down upon our shoulders, is actually, a sense of purpose that lifts us to greater heights. Never forget that fear is but the precursor to valour, that to strive and triumph in the face of fear, is what is means to be a hero. Don't think, Master Jim. Become!''"
-->-- ''Blinky giving Jim encouragement,'' "[[Recap/TrollhuntersS1E2BecomingPart2 Becoming: Part 2]]", ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollhunters}}''

->"''As of today, you are no longer scum! You are my elite imperial warriors! Now, you are a part of something much bigger than yourself or your battalion! From this moment until the day you die, you are members of an honorable brotherhood! This path is not easy, but wherever you go, no matter the state of the world, the army is your family! Every one of you will know war, some of you will not return from it...however, you must always remember this! It's a gift to die for your country! Remember, the Empire will live on forever...that means all of you will live on forever, as well! No matter what happens to you, your spirit will continue to fight on for the Fatherland!''"
-->--'''Tanya Degurechaff''', ''LightNovel/YoujoSenki''

->'''Olivert''': We have a question to post to all of you. THE question, really. With the whole of the Empire caught in the throes of civil war, what exactly do all of you intend to do from here on out?
->'''Rean''': Us?
->'''Alisa''': We were in the midst of discussing that when Rean was taken to the Pantagruel, in fact.
->'''Towa''': Hmmm...
->'''Rean''': (after everyone looks at everyone): "''This is a full-on war, and our fellow Erebonian countrymen stand on both sides. No one here is delusional enough to think that a group of students like us are capable of stopping it by ourselves. Still, during our field studies, we found ourselves up against the problems this nation faces again and again. And because we have that experience, I believe there's a place for us to change things in all this. A part only we can play. We may not be able to compete head on with the alliance, but together, we can move things in the right direction for Erebonia as a whole.''"
->'''Towa''': Heehee. That was wonderful, Rean.
->'''Both Viscount Arseid and Olivert''': Hmmm...
->'''Rean''': "''Still, we aren't all gathered here for the same reasons. Be it rescuing Elise or settling things with Crow, we've all got something that we personally want to accomplish. But accomplishing those things won't be possible with the situation as it stands. And that's why, no matter how stacked the odds are against us or how fierce the fighting becomes, we want to put everything we have into making all the difference we possibly can, in whatever way we can. I think I speak for everyone in Class VII when I say that.''"
-->-- ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel II''

->'''The Chief:''' Alright, everybody, listen up. Lykurgus just figured out exactly what it is the Covenant are holding down in that cave. Now, I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say, that machine has the potential to make our little war a moot point. If the Covenant activate it, it'll link up with other structures all over the galaxy and humanity will cease to exist. We've got to take that thing out, no matter what the cost. Now I've been fighting with some of you for a long time. We've been on some tough missions together, but one way or another, we've always pulled through. Now I'd be lying if I knew we'd get through this one alright. But one thing I do know? We will get the job done. We have a duty to ourselves, a duty to our fellow soldiers, a duty to humanity that we will get the job done. The road ahead of us is not going to be easy. The Covenant are not going to let us walk in and destroy that thing without a fight. They're going to try to stop us every inch of the way. They're going to try and kill every one us before we get near that cave. But you know what I say to that? I say we've beaten them twice on this planet already and I think it's time we finish the job.
->'''The Praetor:''' Noble warriors. For ages untold, our Covenant has fought for this moment. On world after world our forefathers fought to uncover the mystery of the ancients. And now we stand on the brink of the Great Journey. But the humans would deny us our holy destiny. I ask you, not as a commander but a brother-in-arms, to fight.
->'''The Chief:''' Over the years, we've lived and died together. We've shared barracks and we've shared foxholes. We've shed tears and shed blood together.
->'''The Praetor:''' I would not have you remember all that we've done. I would have you remember why we have done it.
->'''The Chief:''' We were fighting for something more than ourselves.
->'''The Praetor:''' For something more than our personal honor or glory.
->'''The Chief:''' It's something that speaks to each and every one of us.
->'''The Praetor:''' Something that lies deep within each of our hearts.
->'''The Chief:''' Something that calls out to us, urging to fight on.
->'''The Praetor:''' Something that pushes us forward, assuring us the righteousness of our quest.
->'''The Chief:''' Today, I want you to remember what we're fighting for.
->'''The Praetor:''' Today, I want you to remember what all of us are fighting for. Today, we fight for our gods!
->'''The Chief:''' Today, we fight for Earth.
-->-- Both leaders rallying their troops, ''Machinima/TheCodex''

->''"...and so two years ago, our government signed a treaty with the Dominion. In it, the Dominion promised to extend Cardassia's influence throughout the Alpha Quadrant. In exchange, we pledged ourselves to join the war against the Federation and its allies. Cardassians have never been afraid of war, a fact we've proven time and again over these past two years. Seven million of our brave soldiers have given their lives to fulfill our part of the agreement, and what has the Dominion done in return? Nothing. We've gained no new territories. In fact, our influence throughout the quadrant has diminished. And to make matters worse we are no longer masters in our own home. Travel anywhere on Cardassia and what do you find? Jem'Hadar, Vorta, and now Breen. Instead of the invaders we have become the invaded. Our 'allies' have conquered us without firing a single shot. [[HeelFaceTurn Well, no longer]]. This morning, detachments of the Cardassian First, Third and Ninth Orders attacked the Dominion outpost on Rondac III. This assault marks the first step towards the liberation of our homeland, from the true oppressors of the Alpha Quadrant. I call upon Cardassians everywhere. Resist. Resist today. Resist tomorrow. Resist till the last Dominion soldier has been driven from our soil!"''
-->-- '''Damar''', ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', "The Changing Face of Evil"

->''"When I first met him, Jesus said that my world was gonna get a whole lot bigger. Well, we found that world. We found each other. That bigger world is ours by right. Now we've come together for it, all of us. It's that much more true, it's ours by right! Any person would live in peace and fairness, who would find common ground, their right to. But those who use and take and kill, to carve out the world and make it theirs alone, we end them! We don't celebrate it, we don't have shame about it either. Now there is only one person who has to die, and I will kill him myself, I will! I will. But if it's the others, the others who prop him up, stand by his side, even those who just look the other way - so be it. Then we keep making the world bigger. Together. I don't want to wait for it anymore. You don't either. Yeah, I know. So we don't have to wait for it. If we start tomorrow right now with everything we've beaten, everything we've endured, everything we've risen above, everything we've become...if we start tomorrow, right now, no matter what comes next, we've won. WE'VE ALREADY WON!"''
-->--'''Rick Grimes''', ''Series/TheWalkingDead''

->''"It is well known that my species has the ability to sense the coming of death. I do not sense it today. I may not have all the answers; however, I ''do'' know that I am surrounded by a team I trust... [[SoProudOfYou the finest a captain could ever hope to command]]. [[spoiler:Lorca]] abused our idealism, and make no mistake, ''[[spoiler:Discovery'' is no longer Lorca's; she is ours. And today will be her maiden voyage.]] We have a duty to perform, and we will not accept a no-win scenario. You have your orders. On your way."''
-->-- '''Saru''', ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'', "What's Past Is Prologue"

-> '''Kamina:''' Simon...never forget. Believe in yourself. Not in the Simon that I believe in. Not in the Kamina that you believe in. Believe in the Simon...who believes in you!
-->-- '''Kamina''', ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann''

->'''ComicBook/TheAtom:''' But bottom line, we're out here and a pretty untried team is in there.\\
'''Dr. Light:''' What are you saying, Dr. Palmer? That it's '''hopeless'''?\\
'''Franchise/{{Superman}}:''' NO! There is '''always''' hope. That team in there-- They are the '''Justice League of America'''. They're new to it, sure, but they '''aren't''' new to this level of adversity. '''None''' of them are. I '''know''' that they'll come through.
-->-- ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica: Omega''

->We are going to show Kira that we are willing to give our lives if that's what it takes. *smiles* And that justice will prevail no matter what.
-->-- '''L''', ''Manga/DeathNote''

->I think that's '''enough'''. [[ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes We]]'ve been friends for a long, long time. And right now, the '''rest''' of our friends need us. Your wife need us, Gim. Earth and the United Planets need us. Brainy's plans might never go as smooth as we hope, but I '''trust''' him.
-->-- '''Superman''', ''ComicBook/SupermanAndTheLegionOfSuperHeroes''

->There's a thing Rabbi Tuchman used to tell us in temple. 'If we stand, God is with us. If we fall, God is still with us. So don't be afraid to fall, but do everything you can to stand.'
-->-- '''Colossal Boy''', ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy''

->"To let such a sweet girl die befits a death worse than hell, am I right? [...] And if it comes down to that, all of your lives must be sacrificed. This is the place you shall be buried. Your fortress will become your grave. [...] You fellas came here to kill for chump change, same as me. You all chose the life of a mercenary. Let's go die like mangy dogs. Let's die, screaming "Fuck! Fuck!" Taking gut shots, and writhing on the ground in agony. Heh, heh, heh. What do you boys say to that?"\\
"Sounds ''great'' to me."\\
"Absolutely."
-->-- ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}''

->You are the soldiers of mankind. You are the Guardians who stand at the Gates of Hell! The dead howl for vengeance, and you must become as the Spirit of Wrath! You shall Eat War And Shit Awesome! YOU ARE DEATHWATCH! KILL TEAMS! YOU ARE THE ONES THAT MAKE THE XENOS DIE!
-->--'''Shinji Ikari''', ''Fanfic/ShinjiAndWarhammer40K''

->'''Bizarrogirl:''' H-How did you get to be so brave when me so cowardly, Bizarro Bizarro Me?\\
'''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}:''' I'm a Bizarro '''You''', remember? I feel the '''opposite''' of whatever you're feeling. Tell you what: I'll '''trade''' your feelings. If I let myself be '''scared'''... will you be '''brave''' for your world?
-->-- ''ComicBook/{{Bizarrogirl}}''

->"We must learn to work together. You must learn to accept my brutal, sneaky, underhanded ways, and I must learn to accept your passionate, headstrong ways. We can complement one another wonderfully and make the battlefield our dance floor. The Evas were made to fight the Angels, so your mother died fighting them. If not for them, you would be home in Germany, going to school like a normal girl and your mother would still be around tuck you in at night. Hate them. Hate them for all they have stolen from you. Let all your sorrow turn to wrath, and if your breast be a cannon, shoot your burning heart at them. We shall make their blood flow, and we shall stack their skulls into a grand throne that shall let all know of your victory over your pain."
-->-- '''Shinji Ikari''', ''Fanfic/ThousandShinji''

->'''Sousuke''': Listen up! As of this moment, you people are no longer lowly maggots! You are rugger men, do you understand?\\
'''Rugby team''': '''[[GratuitousEnglish SIR, YES SIR!]]'''\\
'''Sousuke''': Now you are about to confront the greatest ordeal. The critical moment where you either win it all or fall to hell! So, '''ARE YOU HAVING FUN?!'''\\
'''Team''': '''SIR, YES SIR!'''\\
'''Sousuke''': '''NOW PREPARE FOR COMBAT!!!''' ''(team discard their clothing, changing into the team uniform)'' So, what's our specialty, ladies?!\\
'''Team''': '''KILL! KILL! KILL!'''\\
'''Sousuke''': And what is our goal in this game?!\\
'''Team''': '''KILL! KILL! KILL!'''\\
'''Sousuke''': Do we love our high scool?! Do we love our high school rugby club?!\\
'''Team''': '''GUNG HO! GUNG HO! GUNG HOOOO!'''\\
'''Sousuke''': '''Then let's go!'''
-->-- ''Anime/FullMetalPanicFumoffu''

->Yeah? thought [[ComicBook/PowerGirl Kara]]. And I'm supposed to be...worthy? Because I fell into something I would never have dreamed of doing, when I was a little girl? Because my planet blew up, and I didn't blow up with it? Because I was taken out of the very best lie I ever lived in, and made to live on this... little quaint backwater planet? Because I saw my cousin die? And I never got to tell him I loved him?\\
<Kara,> said the voice. And she heard it clearly, despite the hands (both hands, now) wrapped about her neck, despite the pressure that would not let up, despite the fact that, within seconds, she was sure, she would cease to be the last heroine of Krypton. <Kara, I always knew. Even through all our difficulties, all our quarrels, I always knew. And, Kara... I loved you, too.>\\
Great Rao, I am imagining things. I am dying... and dreaming...\\
<Then make it the best dream you ever had, Kara. Make it a dream worth dying for.>
-->-- ''Fanfic/AForceOfFour''

-> '''Hal''': There are millions, maybe billions dead or dying in the worlds as they are. Can we choose their deaths, because they're easier to bear? The reality we saw--It's the ''truth''. Good, bad, love, pain--It's ''real''. It's the one we're pledged to protect. Not to play God with.
-->-- '''[[Franchise/GreenLantern Hal Jordan]]''', ''ComicBook/JLAAvengers''

[[folder: Forty Inspirational Speeches in Two Minutes]]

(Follow along [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6wRkzCW5qI on YouTube]]...)

-->[[Film/{{Braveheart}} "Will you fight?!" "No! We will run. And we will live."]] "[[Film/TheGreatMuppetCaper Shame on you]]. [[Film/AnimalHouse This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you're going to let it be the worst.]] [[Film/{{Rudy}} And I guarantee a week won't go by in your life you won't regret walking out, letting them get the best of you.]] [[Film/StreetFighter Well, I'm not going home.]] [[Film/OldSchool We've come too far!]] [[Film/MrSmithGoesToWashington And I'm going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause.]] [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings A day may come when the courage of men fails... but it is not this day.]] [[Film/StarTrekFirstContact The line must be drawn here. This far, no further!]] [[Film/BringItOn I'm not saying it's going to be easy]]; [[Film/StandAndDeliver You're going to work harder than you ever worked before.]] [[Film/{{Newsies}} But that's fine, we'll just get tougher with it!]] [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} If a person grits his teeth and shows real determination]], [[{{Film/Apollo 13}} failure is not an option.]] [[Film/RockyBalboa That's how winning is done!]] [[Film/TheMatrixReloaded Believe me when I say,]] [[Film/KingdomOfHeaven We can break this army here]] [[WinOneForTheGipper And win just one for the Gipper]]. [[Film/{{Alexander}} But I say to you what every warrior has known since the beginning of time]]: [[Film/{{Network}} You've got to get mad.]] [[Film/TheOutlawJoseyWales I mean plum mad dog mean.]] [[Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves If you would be free men, then you must]] [[Film/TheGreatDictator fight to fulfill that promise! Let us]] [[Film/{{Patton}} cut out their living guts]] [[Film/AnyGivenSunday One inch at a time]], [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd And they will know what we can do!]] [[Film/{{Troy}} Let no man forget how menacing we are. We are lions!]] [[Film/{{Swingers}} You're like a big bear, man!]] [[{{Film/Miracle}} This is your time!]] [[Film/DeadPoetsSociety Seize the day]], [[Film/GalaxyQuest Never surrender,]] [[Film/TheLastStarfighter victory or death,]] [[Film/TheUntouchables that's the Chicago Way!]] [[Film/ArmyOfDarkness Who's with me?]] [[Theatre/PeterPan1904 Clap! Clap! Don't let Tink die! Clap!]] [[Film/{{Hoosiers}} Alright!]] [[Film/TheMightyDucks Let's fly!]] [[Theatre/HenryV And gentlemen in England now abed]] [[Film/PulpFiction shall know my name is the Lord when I]] [[Film/{{Braveheart}} tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take]] [[Film/IndependenceDay our Independence Day]]!"

[[folder: Quotes about {{Rousing Speech}}es]]

->''What would the last King of Ankh have said to a pack of ragged men who knew they were outnumbered, outflanked and outgeneralled? Something with bite, something with edge, something like a drink of brandy to a dying man; no logic, no explanation, just words that would reach right down through a tired man’s brain and pull him to his feet by his testicles.''
-->'''Creator/TerryPratchett''', ''Discworld/WyrdSisters''

->''It is not that addresses at the opening of a battle make the soldiers brave. The old veterans scarcely hear them, and recruits forget them at the first boom of the cannon. Their usefulness lies in their effect on the course of the campaign, in neutralizing rumors and false reports, in maintaining a good spirit in the camp, and in furnishing matter for camp-fire talk. The printed order of the day should fulfill these different ends.''
--> '''UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte'''

->"How much blood has been shed? How many tears spilled? All of our friends who fought beside us are dead, killed in the last three years. But even as justice can never be vanquished, we terrorists will never vanish, however evil they deem us. Because we know, that a handful of adults, a handful of nations selfishly define the nature of peace and freedom in this world. But our world is so much more complex that. This world has 63 Billion people living their own lives, living 63 billion different ways, 63 billion kinds of peace, 63 billion kinds of concepts of what is "good", 63 billion kinds of war and evil. No one has achieved peace without fighting for it. Behind every peace, there's a river of blood, sweat and tears. But if we avert our eyes from that history and abandon it, then peace might as well be dog shit. Japan, China, North Korea, Guatemala, Indonesia, Cuba, Congo, Peru, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Grenada, Libya, El Slavador, Panama, Bolivia, Kuwait, Sudan, Somalia...Afghanistan. You may be lonely, but it's time to stop being afraid. To all the abandoned children on earth, Let's rise up together and fight together! We're throwing away the old rules, taking of to a place far, far away! Tonight, I send this message to all the adults who stole our freedom and pinned us down. Merry Christmas. Wild Seven and Nanahara Shuya."

It's been a long journey, and no one's coming out without scars. But it all comes down to this moment. We win or lost it all in the next few moments. Make me proud. Make ''yourselves'' proud.

-->-- Nanahara Shuya, ''Film/BattleRoyale''

->JOHN: alright, then let's go.\\
JOHN: i think we are as ready as we are going to get.\\
JOHN: we all have weapons, cool powers, a plan of attack, and most importantly of all, each other.\\
JOHN: never forget, team work is our secret weapon here.\\
JOHN: probably the most powerful weapon we have!\\
JOHN: second ONLY, perhaps, to [[ThePowerOfFriendship the power of friendship]] itself.\\
JOHN: remember that, guys.\\
JOHN: as long as we have team work, friendship, and cool powers on our side, we can't lose.\\
JOHN: you are my best friends ever... rose and roxy, and kanaya and terezi, and dave and jade and karkat, and also jane and dirk and jake, and... \\
'''ROSE: John.'''\\
JOHN: hold on, rose, i'm almost done...\\
JOHN: and callie, and tavros, and cat rose, and um, the sweaty guy, uh, PROBABLY not the clown in the fridge though... oh, yeah, and even probably vriska.\\
JOHN: oh, and the mayor! he's great too.\\
JOHN: did i miss anybody? i think that's it.\\
JOHN: anyway, i believe in you all, and i know we can do this together.\\
JOHN: now let's go kick some ass!
-->-- ''WebComic/{{Homestuck}}''

--> '''General''': Brave soldiers of Repliforce, we have all been wrongfully judged as Mavericks by the humans. We cannot suffer this indignity and live in disgrace. We will build our own nation of Reploids. But remember, this is neither about insurrection, or rebellion against our human creators. This is about our liberty and security. We must battle for our own individual rights, and our own survival. Together we will build our own nation, a sanctuary for all Reploids, our own Utopia. Let us forge onward towards a new golden era for the Repliforce.

-->[[Film/{{Braveheart}} "Will you fight?!" "No! We will run. And we will live."]] "[[Film/TheGreatMuppetCaper Shame on you]]. [[Film/AnimalHouse This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you're going to let it be the worst.]] [[Film/{{Rudy}} And I guarantee a week won't go by in your life you won't regret walking out, letting them get the best of you.]] [[Film/StreetFighter Well, I'm not going home.]] [[OldSchool We've come too far!]] [[Film/MrSmithGoesToWashington And I'm going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause.]] [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings A day may come when the courage of men fails... but it is not this day.]] [[Film/StarTrekFirstContact The line must be drawn here. This far, no further!]] [[Film/BringItOn I'm not saying it's going to be easy]]; [[Film/StandAndDeliver You're going to work harder than you ever worked before.]] [[Film/{{Newsies}} But that's fine, we'll just get tougher with it!]] [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} If a person grits his teeth and shows real determination]], [[{{Film/Apollo 13}} failure is not an option.]] [[Film/RockyBalboa That's how winning is done!]] [[Film/TheMatrixReloaded Believe me when I say,]] [[Film/KingdomOfHeaven We can break this army here]] [[WinOneForTheGipper And win just one for the Gipper]]. [[Film/{{Alexander}} But I say to you what every warrior has known since the beginning of time]]: [[Film/{{Network}} You've got to get mad.]] [[Film/TheOutlawJoseyWales I mean plum mad dog mean.]] [[Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves If you would be free men, then you must]] [[Film/TheGreatDictator fight to fulfill that promise! Let us]] [[Film/{{Patton}} cut out their living guts]] [[Film/AnyGivenSunday One inch at a time]], [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd And they will know what we can do!]] [[Film/{{Troy}} Let no man forget how menacing we are. We are lions!]] [[Film/{{Swingers}} You're like a big bear, man!]] [[{{Miracle}} This is your time!]] [[Film/DeadPoetsSociety Seize the day]], [[Film/GalaxyQuest Never surrender,]] [[Film/TheLastStarfighter victory or death,]] [[Film/TheUntouchables that's the Chicago Way!]] [[Film/ArmyOfDarkness Who's with me?]] [[Theatre/PeterPan1904 Clap! Clap! Don't let Tink die! Clap!]] [[Film/{{Hoosiers}} Alright!]] [[Film/TheMightyDucks Let's fly!]] [[Theatre/HenryV And gentlemen in England now abed]] [[Film/PulpFiction shall know my name is the Lord when I]] [[Film/{{Braveheart}} tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take]] [[Film/IndependenceDay our Independence Day]]!"

* It wasn't a RousingSpeech, but Lord Nelson ordered a signal sent to the other ships preparing for the Battle of Trafalgar: "England Expects That Every Man Will Do His Duty." He then [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome led his own ship into the heat of battle and won the day]]... [[TheHeroDies at the cost of his own life]]. The line remains as one of the most stirring calls to action in British memory, and considering how many RousingSpeech moments there are in British history, that's saying something.

-->-- '''Captain Kirrahe''', ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', with [[CrowningMusicofAwesome appropriate music.]]

-> [[ContemplateOurNavels Let me ask you two a question: You ever wonder why we're here?]] ... No, I mean you! What are YOU doing here? [[BrilliantButLazy You always act like you want to quit, but hell, you could've left whenever you wanted!]] No one would have stopped you, so why are you here? [[ProfessionalButtKisser And you, Simmons! You say you want to be in charge.]] [[TVGenius They would've given you your own squad a dozen times over!]] You know it, and I know it, but you're still here. [[TookALevelInBadass And you, Tucker: Much as I hate to admit it, you're actually good at being a soldier.]] ...[[DoubleEntendre I know you like to make your rude comments,]] [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass and pretend like it all doesn't matter,]] [[TheChosenOne but an entire alien race chose you to be their hero!]] So why are you here? [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg And Caboose, um... It's good to see you.]] ...[[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Maybe you're all here because this is the only place you fit in. Maybe you're here because you don't have anywhere else to go.]] [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Or maybe you're all here because, deep down, you want to be here.]] The reason doesn't matter. What matters is that you're here! For all we know, Tex and Church are dead. That means we're the only ones that know what's happened, the only ones that can prevent them from covering it up. So the way I figure it, if these Freelancer guys will use us, take us away from our families, and send us all over the dad-gum galaxy just to test if their agents are ready for the big fight, well, I guess I'm interested in showing them exactly what a big fight is all about! It's time to clean the slate! [[AFatherToHisMen So I'm not ordering you to go. I ain't even asking. You do what you gotta do, Private Grif.]]

-->[[Film/{{Braveheart}} "Will you fight?!" "No! We will run. And we will live."]] "[[Film/TheGreatMuppetCaper Shame on you]]. [[Film/AnimalHouse This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you're going to let it be the worst.]] [[Film/{{Rudy}} And I guarantee a week won't go by in your life you won't regret walking out, letting them get the best of you.]] [[Film/StreetFighter Well, I'm not going home.]] [[OldSchool We've come too far!]] [[Film/MrSmithGoesToWashington And I'm going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause.]] [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings A day may come when the courage of men fails... but it is not this day.]] [[Film/StarTrekFirstContact The line must be drawn here. This far, no further!]] [[Film/BringItOn I'm not saying it's going to be easy]]; [[Film/StandAndDeliver You're going to work harder than you ever worked before.]] [[Film/{{Newsies}} But that's fine, we'll just get tougher with it!]] [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} If a person grits his teeth and shows real determination]], [[{{Film/Apollo 13}} failure is not an option.]] [[Film/RockyBalboa That's how winning is done!]] [[Film/TheMatrixReloaded Believe me when I say,]] [[Film/KingdomOfHeaven We can break this army here]] [[WinOneForTheGipper And win just one for the Gipper]]. [[Film/{{Alexander}} But I say to you what every warrior has known since the beginning of time]]: [[Film/{{Network}} You've got to get mad.]] [[Film/TheOutlawJoseyWales I mean plum mad dog mean.]] [[Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves If you would be free men, then you must]] [[Film/TheGreatDictator fight to fulfill that promise! Let us]] [[Film/{{Patton}} cut out their living guts]] [[Film/AnyGivenSunday One inch at a time]], [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd And they will know what we can do!]] [[Film/{{Troy}} Let no man forget how menacing we are. We are lions!]] [[Film/{{Swingers}} You're like a big bear, man!]] [[{{Miracle}} This is your time!]] [[Film/DeadPoetsSociety Seize the day]], [[Film/GalaxyQuest Never surrender,]] [[Film/TheLastStarfighter victory or death,]] [[Film/TheUntouchables that's the Chicago Way!]] [[Film/ArmyOfDarkness Who's with me?]] [[Theatre/PeterPan Clap! Clap! Don't let Tink die! Clap!]] [[Film/{{Hoosiers}} Alright!]] [[Film/TheMightyDucks Let's fly!]] [[Theatre/HenryV And gentlemen in England now abed]] [[Film/PulpFiction shall know my name is the Lord when I]] [[Film/{{Braveheart}} tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take]] [[Film/IndependenceDay our Independence Day]]!"

-->--'''The Major''', ''{{Hellsing}}''

* Shakespeare's ''HenryV'' gave two memorable {{Rousing Speech}}es:

--->-- ''King HenryV'', act 3, scene i, by Creator/WilliamShakespeare

--->-- ''King HenryV'', Act 4 Scene iii, by Creator/WilliamShakespeare.

[[folder: Quotes about {{Rousing Speech}}es

!!Real Life

!!Fiction

!!Forty Inspirational Speeches in Two Minutes

!!Quotes about {{Rousing Speech}}es

-->'''Creator/TerryPratchett''', ''Discworldd/WyrdSisters''

-->[[Film/{{Braveheart}} "Will you fight?!" "No! We will run. And we will live."]] "[[Film/TheGreatMuppetCaper Shame on you]]. [[Film/AnimalHouse This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you're going to let it be the worst.]] [[Film/{{Rudy}} And I guarantee a week won't go by in your life you won't regret walking out, letting them get the best of you.]] [[Film/StreetFighter Well, I'm not going home.]] [[OldSchool We've come too far!]] [[MrSmithGoesToWashington And I'm going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause.]] [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings A day may come when the courage of men fails... but it is not this day.]] [[Film/StarTrekFirstContact The line must be drawn here. This far, no further!]] [[Film/BringItOn I'm not saying it's going to be easy]]; [[Film/StandAndDeliver You're going to work harder than you ever worked before.]] [[Film/{{Newsies}} But that's fine, we'll just get tougher with it!]] [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} If a person grits his teeth and shows real determination]], [[{{Film/Apollo 13}} failure is not an option.]] [[Film/RockyBalboa That's how winning is done!]] [[Film/TheMatrixReloaded Believe me when I say,]] [[Film/KingdomOfHeaven We can break this army here]] [[WinOneForTheGipper And win just one for the Gipper]]. [[Film/{{Alexander}} But I say to you what every warrior has known since the beginning of time]]: [[Film/{{Network}} You've got to get mad.]] [[Film/TheOutlawJoseyWales I mean plum mad dog mean.]] [[Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves If you would be free men, then you must]] [[Film/TheGreatDictator fight to fulfill that promise! Let us]] [[Film/{{Patton}} cut out their living guts]] [[Film/AnyGivenSunday One inch at a time]], [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd And they will know what we can do!]] [[Film/{{Troy}} Let no man forget how menacing we are. We are lions!]] [[Film/{{Swingers}} You're like a big bear, man!]] [[{{Miracle}} This is your time!]] [[Film/DeadPoetsSociety Seize the day]], [[Film/GalaxyQuest Never surrender,]] [[Film/TheLastStarfighter victory or death,]] [[Film/TheUntouchables that's the Chicago Way!]] [[Film/ArmyOfDarkness Who's with me?]] [[Theatre/PeterPan Clap! Clap! Don't let Tink die! Clap!]] [[Film/{{Hoosiers}} Alright!]] [[Film/TheMightyDucks Let's fly!]] [[Theatre/HenryV And gentlemen in England now abed]] [[Film/PulpFiction shall know my name is the Lord when I]] [[Film/{{Braveheart}} tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take]] [[Film/IndependenceDay our Independence Day]]!"

-->-- '''Coalition of Ordered Governments Chairman Richard Prescott''', ''GearsOfWar 2''