Resources for Finding Speeches and Quotations

Find text of famous speeches or find the origin of famous quotations.

Speeches: Online | Books
Quotations: Online | Books

SPEECHES: Online resources

  • American Rhetoric Online Speech Bank
    http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speechbank.htm
    What a site! Over 500 speeches in full text, audio and streaming video by historical figures, from movies (hear the "If you build it, they will come" speech, Lou Gehrig's farewell speech, so much more), speeches on September 11, the Irag War and from the recent political conventions. An annoying feature: search for speeches by people by their first name (e.g., look under N for Nelson Mandela). Also includes scholarly writing on rhetoric, including works by Plato and Aristotle.

  • Douglass Archives of American Public Address
    http://www.douglassarchives.org/
    Text of American speeches compiled by Northwestern University. Search by keyword, speaker, title, chronologically, or by issue/topic.

  • Feminist.Com / Articles and Speeches
    http://www.feminist.com/art.htm
    Includes speeches by Hillary Clinton, Betty Friedan, and many others
  • Gifts of Speech: Women's Speeches from Around the World
    http://gos.sbc.edu/
    Text of speeches made by women. Arranged by speaker or chronologically.
  • Great American Speeches
    http://www.pbs.org/greatspeeches/
    The Speech Archive includes the text, audio and/or video (when available) of famous American speeches of the past 80 years. Also included are background information and timelines of historical events to put each speech in context. Speeches are arranged chronologically.
  • The White House
    http://www.whitehouse.gov/
    Provides the full text of proclaimations, press briefings, radio addresses press conferences and remarks given by past and current President, VP and First Lady. Given in audio, video and print transcripts, often with supporting documents and fact sheets. In the left frame, use the link for "News" or use the search feature and search by topic.

SPEECHES: Books

Speeches are scattered throughout the library's collection. To find them, use CLICnet and do a subject search "speeches"

Speeches and addresses comes up and then subdivides by narrower topics. Did you want American speeches? African-American speeches? Greek speeches? Click on the appropriate category.

Many of the books on speeches are in the lower level stacks and are available for check out.

  • Lend Me Your Ear: Great Speeches from History PN6122.L4 1997
  • Speeches and Documents in American History E183.B53S
  • Speeches that Changed the World PN6121.S74 1999
 
 

Also, try browsing the periodical Vital Speeches of the Day, recent issues of which can be found in the current periodicals area on the main level of the Library.

QUOTATIONS: Online Resources

  • Oxford Reference Online: Quotations
    Includes The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, and The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations. (Off-campus users must login)
  • Quotations Archive
    http://www.aphids.com/quotes/index.shtml
    Comprehensive site boasting 60,000 quotes. A cute feature is a Love and Marriage category with quotes for wedding toasts and one-liners. You've gotta love it!
  • QuoteWorld.org
    http://quoteworld.org/
    Boasts over 15,000 quotes. Browse or search by author or topic. Even allows you to create an account and save your quotes!

QUOTATIONS: Books

All books listed below are located in the Reference Room. For more books on quotations, browse through the reference room call number area PN6080-PN6426.

African-American Quotations PN6081.3 .A36 1998
American Indian Quotations PN6081.4 .A43 1996
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations PN6081.B27 1980
Dictionary of Quotations PN6081.E93D
The Encyclopedia of Religious Quotations PN6084.R3 M4 1965
The Home Book of Quotations PN6081.S73 1956
The Macmillan Dictionary of Political Quotations PN6084.P6 E54 1993
The New Beacon Book of Quotations by Women PN6081.5 N48 1996
The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations PN6080.O95 1999
The Quotable Woman PN6081.5 Q65 2001