I suppose the concept of inspiring people through great oration is particularly appealing to me and when I am in need of inspiration I turn to reading or listening to amazing speeches.
A recent favorite of mine was Steve Jobs’ amazing commencement speech to the graduating Stanford class.
I also turn to this amazing site: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/. Most of the speeches don’t speak to me the same way Steve Jobs’ speech did, but are still extraordinary in their own way.
On a related note, my favorite collection is a 4-disk series called Great Speeches of the 20th Century.
I listen to them every year and think most of you would really enjoy it too.