Inspiring

[SataiDelenn]

I just finished watching "Points of Departure", the premier episode for Season Two, and of course Captain Sheridans first appearance.

The episode never really did much for me in the past, it was enjoyable, but I'd never really sought it out to watch. This time around - two years after last watching it on video - I came to appreciate it much more.

At the end of the episode Sheridan has to deliver the last half of his 'goodluck speech' before his self imposed 24 hours runs out.

That speech struck me, it resonated deeply for me with what is happening in our world today.

It reminded me of what blows me away most about B5... JMS' ability to reach down inside me and yank at that nobler part of myself through his marvelous characters and even more brilliant use of our wonderful language.

So... want to share your favourite B5 speeches with us all?

This may have been done before, if so... sorry... if it's a hassle for you, go away and let those of us who haven't experienced it before sit down and enjoy the marvelous words JMS' writes.

Perhaps my all time favourite quote is where Delenn gives her farewell speech in the second last episode ever shown. But now I have an equal favourite, and I have used it as my signature below.

That's the quote I choose to share.

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Captain Sheridan's Lincoln Quote: "The dogma's of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occassion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise to the occassion. We cannot escape history, we will be remembered in spite of ourselves. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honour or dishonour, to the last generation. We shall nobley save or meanly lose our last best hope of Earth."

[This message has been edited by SataiDelenn (edited November 13, 2001).]

 

[AngelSummers]

What are dogmas?

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May the light of the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha protect you.

May you all be well and happy, free from suffering, free from sickness.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>dogma (dog-ma) Pr 'dog-m&, 'däg-m&

1 a : something held as an established opinion; especially : a definite authoritative tenet b : a code of such tenets <pedagogical dogma> c : a point of view or tenet put forth as authoritative without adequate grounds

2 : a doctrine or body of doctrines concerning faith or morals formally stated and authoritatively proclaimed by a church.

Merriam-Webster On-Line<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

SataiDelenn, if you're going to use Sheridan's paraphrase of Lincoln in your sig for every message, you'll probably want to lose the apostrophe in "dogma's" (it is a plural, not a possessive) and drop the "e" from "nobely".

Regards,

Joe



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Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net

 

[SataiDelenn]

Thanks, Joe!

My students would never let me live this down!

I guess it's lucky I don't teach English!

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Captain Sheridan's Lincoln Quote: "The dogma's of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occassion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise to the occassion. We cannot escape history, we will be remembered in spite of ourselves. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honour or dishonour, to the last generation. We shall nobley save or meanly lose our last best hope of Earth."

 

[SataiDelenn]

All better now! I'll just go and hide in shame! *laughs*

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Captain Sheridan's Lincoln Quote: "The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occassion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise to the occassion. We cannot escape history, we will be remembered in spite of ourselves. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honour or dishonour, to the last generation. We shall nobly save or meanly lose our last best hope of Earth."

[This message has been edited by SataiDelenn (edited November 13, 2001).]

 

[admiraldave]

There are so many inspiring speeches. Still, the one that came to mind first was G'Kar's declaration of principles. How he improved it, I'll never know. Some authors are just wizards of words.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>
The universe speaks in many languages, but only one voice. The language is not narn or human or centauri or gaim or minbari. It speaks in the language of hope. It speaks in the language of trust. It speaks in the language of strength and the language of compassion. It is the language of the heart and the language of the soul. But always it is the same voice.

It is the voice of our ancestors speaking through us and the voice of our inheritors waiting to be born. The small, still voice that says: 'We are one. No matter the blood, no matter the skin, no matter the world, no matter the star. .. We are one. No matter the pain, no matter the darkness, no matter the loss, no matter the fear. .. We are one.'

Here, gathered together in common cause, we begin to realize this singular truth and this singular rule that we must be kind to one another. Because each voice enriches us and ennobles us and each voice lost diminishes us.

We are the voice of the universe, the soul of creation, the fire that will light our way to a better future. We are one.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Admiral Dave

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[Recoil]

It's funny you mentioned this. Shortly after 9-11 I remembered something from B5, that if taken in context you would swear it had something to do with that very event. It was G'Kar's closing remarks in the Season 3 Finale 'Za'Ha'Dum'. Try to think back to how you felt as you were watching events of that day unfold, and it really hits the nail on the head. None of us can help but think that when this happened there was a great deal of change coming, and that was how it had started. For those of you who dont remember that speech here it is:

"'All around us, it was as if the universe were holding its breath, waiting. All of life can be broken down into moments of transition or moments .. of revelation. This had the feeling of both.
'G'Quan wrote: 'There is a greater darkness than the one we fight. It is the darkness of the soul that has lost its way. The war we fight is not against powers and principalities, it is against chaos and despair. Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender. The future is all around us, waiting in moments of transition, to be born in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of that future, or where it will take us. We know only that it is always born in pain.'"

You could replace the 'Universe' with 'World' and take out the G'Quan reference and it would almost perfectly fit into our own time and frame of reference. At least it does to me...

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'I don't believe in the no-win scenario' - JTK

 

[hypatia]

G'kar always had the best speeches, IMO. Delenn had some good ones. So did Sheridan, and even Sinclair. But G'kar had the best speeches, didn't he? Speeches that made me stop what I was doing, and just listen.

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"I do not believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense,
reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."-- Galileo

"I think I speak for Mr. Bloom and myself when I say: you are the only director in the World who can do justice to 'Springtime For Hitler' " - Zero Mostel, The Producers

 

[Kribu]

The funny thing about G'Kar's speeches was that they didn't feel lame, or sound practised - must have been both the content and the delivery that made them so special.

Both the two speeches quoted above were wonderful, especially the Z'ha'Dum closing speech. But this one from The Long, Twilight Struggle touched me deeply as well.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>No dictator, no invader, can hold an imprisoned population by the force of arms forever.

There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power governments, and tyrants, and armies can not stand.

The Centauri learned this lesson once. We will teach it to them again. Though it take a thousand years, we will be free.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

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"Narns, Humans, Centauri... we all do what we do for the same reason: because it seems like a good idea at the time." - G'Kar, Mind War
Kribu's Lounge

 

[GKarsEye]

Ooh speeches. I love 'em. I'm not going to quote any, but I'll try to describe the ones I come up with.

G'Kar: the two that have been mentioned.
What he tells Delenn about not forgiving her for not letting him know about the Centauri bombing Narn.
When Londo kicked him out of the council chambers after the Centauri took over Narn, G'Kar gave a little speech about freedom. "We have taught the Centauri this lesson. We will teach it to them again," or something like that.

[Edit: Kribu just posted this speech at the same time I made this post, making my post seem stupid. Damn you, woman! Then again, making my posts seem stupid isn't a very difficult task.

]

After he lost his eye and he's in the cell, telling Londo about being able to look inside his soul. This is the speech that inspired my handle.
And who better to deliver those speeches than Andreas Katsulas. The dude talks and walks like he should be wearing a purple robe and holding a sceptor all the time.

Londo:
In the Gathering, describing the fall of the Centauri empire.
When he thinks Refa was responsible for killing Adira, he tells Morden something like, "Protect my people. Let the rest of the universe burn." Chilling stuff.

Cartagia:
When he talks to the heads. Talking to heads is always cool.

Bester (man, do I love this character):
When he and hypno-Garibaldi are in the transport and he's thinking aloud about what to do with Garibaldi. It was great to see the kind of power on display- the fate of a powerful person in his hands, and the pleasant musings of what to do with it.

Talia:
She has two little speeches that, well, let's just say I wouldn't like so much if I wasn't a guy.
1. "Do you know what it's like when telepaths make love?" No, honey, but I sure'd like to find out. a-WOO-gah.
2. Her last scene with Ivanova when she talks about things she "whispered in her ear," and such. The whole bitchy-psycho-lesbo thing. Nice.

Byron:
Ok, stop yelling at me, I didn't actually hate Byron. I like when he told Lyta to sit down, then kicked the chair and told her to start acting for herself (ironically, she would then go on to act for him.) I've actually done that sort of thing myself. I, like, Byron, enjoy yelling at people. Also, we are both awful singers and can fake British accents.

Kosh's ship:
It made noise, or "sung." Maybe it was a speech. It sure was perty.

Sebastian:
The whole thing about Delenn being arrogant and right about everything. Cool.

***Sarcastic***
The guy from Grey 17, the cult leader.

I also wanted to punch Lorien in the mouth everytime he said "tick" or "tock." Yech.

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"You do not make history. You can only hope to survive it."

[This message has been edited by GKarsEye (edited November 13, 2001).]

 

[Jade Jaguar]

I loved the tick/tock thing. I'm trying hard to remember hard one of my favorites, by G'Kar of course, something about facing the universe with good intentions... help me remember

And Angel Summers, there is a saying: my karma hit your dogma.

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You're speaking treason! Olivia De Havilland as Maid Marian
Fluently! Errol Flynn as Robin Hood
You're talking treason! Olivia De Havilland as Arabella Bishop
I trust I'm not obscure. Errol Flynn as Dr. Peter Blood

Pallindromes of the month: Snug was I, ere I saw guns.
Doom an evil deed, liven a mood.

 

[Kribu]

Jade Jaguar, is this what you were looking for?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>I'm delirious with joy.

It proves that if you confront the universe with good intentions in your heart, it will reflect that and reward your intent. Usually. It just doesn't always do it in the way you expect.

- G'Kar to Garibaldi, Epiphanies<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It was a funny scene... poor Garibaldi trying to get some air and all.

And BTW, I didn't remember this word-by-word - I checked this wonderful quotes page.

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"Narns, Humans, Centauri... we all do what we do for the same reason: because it seems like a good idea at the time." - G'Kar, Mind War
Kribu's Lounge

 

[SataiDelenn]

God... G'Kar just rocks!

I really think JMS just thought... "this guy has IT!" and wrote to that. I can't imagine any other actor than Andreas pulling those speeches off with such intense sincerity.

G'Kar, Delenn and Londo, to me, made the best and most inspiring speeches, their delivery as actors and their presence as characters is awesome.

TaiChiDave... I LOVE the Declaration of Princliples, thanks for posting it... in fact, EVERYONE thanks for posting your speeches!

Keep them coming, I'm getting tingles, and that Season Three ender (sorry can't remember the posters name off the top of my head) does fit 9/11!

Great Gods I love Babylon 5!

Kribu THANK YOU for the link!

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Captain Sheridan's Lincoln Quote: "The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occassion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise to the occassion. We cannot escape history, we will be remembered in spite of ourselves. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honour or dishonour, to the last generation. We shall nobly save or meanly lose our last best hope of Earth."

 

[Jade Jaguar]

Yes, thanks Kribu, that was it

but I believe it may have been slightly different by a word or two, but I could be wrong. Thanks.

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You're speaking treason! Olivia De Havilland as Maid Marian
Fluently! Errol Flynn as Robin Hood
You're talking treason! Olivia De Havilland as Arabella Bishop
I trust I'm not obscure. Errol Flynn as Dr. Peter Blood

Pallindromes of the month: Snug was I, ere I saw guns.
Doom an evil deed, liven a mood.

 

[Kribu]

You're welcome, SataiDelenn and Jade Jaguar.

Perhaps I should rewatch Epiphanies myself... just to check it.

That quote site is usually pretty reliable - of course the guy running it may occasionally have got a word wrong but in essence, that should be it.

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"Narns, Humans, Centauri... we all do what we do for the same reason: because it seems like a good idea at the time." - G'Kar, Mind War
Kribu's Lounge