The Words of Peace: Selections from the Speeches of the Nobel Prize Winners of the Twentieth Century

by Irwin Abrams

Updated to include all the voices of the century, this unique, moving, and inspiring collection contains excerpts from the acceptance speeches and lectures given by eighty laureates since the Award's inception in 1901. Selected by the world's foremost historian of the Nobel Peace Prize, which was established "to honor the heroes of peace," these excerpts were written or spoken by the eighty laureates of the twentieth century. Last updated in 1993, this new edition now includes words of the Medecins San Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (1999), Northern Ireland political leaders Hume and Trimble (1998), International Campaign to Ban Landmines' Jody Williams (1997), Easter Timorese peace workers Belo and Horta (1996), and nuclear disarmament advocates Rotblat and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs (1995).

Genres: Nonfiction

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really, name me a politician with the integrity of Jimmy Carter. I dare you. (well, I am hoping that Barack Obama is his equal)

[Jeremy Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive speeches are always better than snippets and excerpts, namely for the context they provide, but to read a book that snuggly places the known and unknown Nobel Peace Prize recipients next to each other in Words of Peace is like taking a seat in the church of human goodwill. This is a collection that ought to inspire serious and thoughtful conversations about the true nature of humanity, whether we are inherently bad at our core, thus trying to be better, more civilized, or whether we are inherently good at our core, affected and nurtured by evil outside ourselves. I tend to believe the former, that humankind is born selfish, that civility is learned, that we are only as good as we are taught to be and find within ourselves the will to be.

[Frodo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would that such an award as the Nobel Peace Prize, first given in 1909, were no longer necessary to remind us of the need for peacemaking. Speeches from award recipients remain poignant in this world.