Page type: lyric reference
Artist: Charles Chaplin
Canonical path: /charles-chaplin/the-final-speech-from-the-great-dictator
Related lyric paths: 4
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Lyric guide
The Final Speech (from The Great Dictator)
Read The Final Speech (from The Great Dictator) lyrics by Charles Chaplin on LyroVerse, with linked artist context and related song paths.
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Curated by Ethan Walker
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Lyrics
The Final Speech (from The Great Dictator)
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I'm sorry, but I don't want to be an emperor
That's not my business
I don't want to rule or conquer anyone
I should like to help everyone if possible
Jew, Gentile, Black Man, White
We all want to help one another, human beings are like that
We want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery
We don't want to hate and despise one another
And this world has room for everyone, and the good Earth is rich
And can provide for everyone
The way of life can be free and beautiful
But we have lost the way
Greed has posioned men's souls
Has barricaded the world with hate
Has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed
We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in
Machinery that gives us abundance has left us in want
Our knowledge has made us cynincal
Our cleverness, hard and unkind
We think too much, and feel too little
More than machinery, we need humanity
More that cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness
Without these qualities life will be violent, and all will be lost
The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together
The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men
Cries out for universal brotherhood
For the unity of us all
Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world
Millions of despairing men, women, and little children
Victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people
To those who can hear me, I say
Do not despair
The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed
The bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress
The hate of men will pass, and dictators die
And the power they took from the people will return to the people
And so long as men die, liberty will never perish
Soldiers!
Don't give yourselves to brutes
Men who despise you
Enslave you
Who regiment your lives
Tell you what to do
What to think and what to feel!
Who drill you
Diet you
Treat you like cattle
Use you as cannon fodder
Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men
Machine men with machine minds and machine hearts!
You are not machines!
You are not cattle!
You are men!
You have the love of humanity in your hearts!
You don't hate!
Only the unloved hate
The unloved and the unnatural!
Soldiers!
Don't fight for slavery!
Fight for liberty!
In the 17th Chapter of St Luke it is written: The Kingdom of God is within man
Not one man nor a group of men, but in all men!
In you!
You, the people have the power
The power to create machines
The power to create happiness!
You, the people, have the power
To make this life free and beautiful
To make this life a wonderful adventure
Then, in the name of democracy
Let us use that power
Let us all unite
Let us fight for a new world
A decent world that will give men a chance to work
That will give youth a future and old age a security
By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power
But they lie!
They do not fulfil that promise
They never will!
Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people!
Now let us fight to fulfil that promise!
Let us fight to free the world
To do away with national barriers
To do away with greed, with hate and intolerance
Let us fight for a world of reason
A world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness
Soldiers!
In the name of democracy, let us all unite
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Who performs "The Final Speech (from The Great Dictator)"?
Charles Chaplin performs "The Final Speech (from The Great Dictator)", and this lyric page sits inside the Charles Chaplin catalog on LyroVerse.
Are there related songs to explore after "The Final Speech (from The Great Dictator)"?
Yes. The related section below points to Se Bella Giu Satore and Smile with a short reason for opening each page next.
Where can I find more songs by Charles Chaplin?
Use the artist link near the top of the page or the related paths section below to keep moving through Charles Chaplin's lyric pages.
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