The Jewish Barber: 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 men, white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are
like that. We want to live by each others' happiness, not by each other's
misery. We don't want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is
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
poisoned 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 abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge as made
us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too
little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than 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 things cries out for the goodness in man; 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 has come 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.
(In a passionate raging
voice now)
Soldiers! Don't give
yourselves to these brutes 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 and 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 men! With the love of humanity in your hearts! Don't
hate! Only the unloved hate; the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers! Don't
fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! In the seventeenth chapter of St. Luke,
it is written that 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 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 the happiness of us
all. Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us unite!
(Here, Chaplin pauses,
seeming to gather himself, and the picture soon fades out to a scene of refugee
Hannah (Paulette Goddard) with her family in a peaceful field, seemingly
hearing his words.)
Hannah, can you hear
me? Wherever you are, look up! Look up, Hannah! The clouds are lifting! The sun
is breaking through! We are coming out of the darkness into the light! We are
coming into a new world; a kinder world, where men will rise above their greed,
their hate and their brutality. Look up, Hannah! The soul of man has been given
wings and at last he is beginning to fly. He is flying into the rainbow! Into
the light of hope! Look up, Hannah! Look up!
Veerapagupathy,
Chothavilai Beach,
Thengamputhoor,
Kanyakumari District.
04652-221337,
8220099080.
Email:aveholidayhome@gmail.com
Website:www.aveholidayhome.com
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