Eloquence: Not a monopoly of the high and the mighty

“In Our Own Words”
By Senator Robert Torricelli
and Andrew Carroll
Washington Square Press, 2000



Extraordinary thoughts and eloquent words are not a monopoly of the famous and the powerful. Unforgettable statements and speeches also come from the lips of ordinary people – if not more so – because these are spontaneous, are authentic expressions from life in the raw, or are surprisingly illuminating cutting through layers of formality or falsehood.

Who can forget Emma Lim, the cool and collected witness at the impeachment trial of the former President. Initially looking like a frightened chick under the shadow of a so-called legal eagle preparing his menacing claws and flamboyantly displaying his verbal tricks to trap her, Ms. Lim countered with words that are now part of the Philippines’ famous sayings: “Iniinom po ang iced tea, your Honor, hindi po kinakain.” It was an unintended repartee that left the famous law professor dumbfounded. The credibility of the witness was established by whether tea is drunk or eaten!

Or, three decades ago, a television personality – probably unaware that he was subjecting a favorite Martial Law slogan to ridicule – said: “Sa ikauunlad ng bayan, bisikleta ang kailangan,” a parody of the much-hyped “Sa ikauunlad ng bayan, disiplina ang kailangan. The comedian was thrown behind bars, but his words rang out, because it exposed the sheer hypocrisy behind the new society battlecry.

Many books of quotations and speeches include in their anthologies pieces only from the rich, famous, infamous and the powerful. And most of these are politicians, statesmen, celebrities, infamous gangsters – but never words from those we usually call “ordinary people.”

That’s why this book, “In Our Own Words” – subtitled “Extraordinary Speeches of the American Century” – is a refreshing exception and truly a treasure. A collection of 150 speeches, the book at times present speeches in pairs. For example, in the celebrated case of sexual harassment against Judge Clarence Thomas, the book features both the Judge’s defense and the chronology of Anita Hill detailing the advances of the accused.
The vision of the future of 11-year old Samantha Smith’s follows a great speech of United Nations Ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick excoriating the Soviet Union for shooting down a passenger plane. A rare collection is the tandem of versions of former U.S. President Bill Clinton’s apology for his “improper relationship” with Monica Lewinsky – the first is the original draft, the second is the speech Clinton ultimately read. You will note the hazards of spontaneity and the extreme caution of Clinton’s masters of double talk.

The watchers of Hillary Rodham-Clinton -- erstwhile U.S. First Lady, now Senator – will now be convinced that this feisty lady had the guts even early in life when, in 1969, she took issue with the commencement speaker, a Senator from Massachusetts, on the themes of integrity, trust and respect. One’s admiration for Hillary’s mind and courage will increase as one reads her extemporaneous speech.

This collection captures the varied moods of every decade. For example, on the same year Hillary rebuked the commencement speaker, the first man landed on the moon and we have the pre-landing Christmas message from the crew members of Apollo 8 using a generous quotation from the Genesis account of the Creation, probably better appreciating the “good Earth” vis-à-vis the crater-punctuated Moon.

The book, spanning ten decades, does not only give the reader the extraordinary speeches of ruler and ruled, victor and victim, hero and heel – but it also gives one the events taking place all at the same time within a decade. One, therefore, gets the feeling of an ever active globe – while a scientific discovery is announced in America, a revolution is taking place in South America, a dictator emerges in Africa, and a people are being bombarded everywhere.

What makes the book’s account extraordinary is that its views of history in the making are taken from the varied vantage points of the speakers. You finish the book with the impression that truly man’s capability for mercy or cruelty is boundless; and that the human thirst for justice is matched by the inhuman drive for exploitation.

We also know that in the midst of advancing technologies, the human spirit continues to assert itself – and so still has “dominion over all the world.”

The words of Tom Brokaw conclude this amazing book, delivered before the graduating class in 1999, waxing nostalgic about a time gone by, and summoning a new generation of leaders to confront the problems and opportunities offered by the then coming millennium. He mentions two lessons in history:

“The short lesson: technology is not enough, not even when it comes with a generous package of stock options, sabbaticals, and leased time on a private plane.

“The long lesson? It is not enough to wire the world if you short-circuit the soul.” In this book, one learns more about this soul when one listens to the voicesof the mighty and the lesser mortals upheld by the Almighty.