Zamenhof 1907 speech at the London guildhall

Zamenhof gave a lot of beautiful speeches. This one makes me cry every time I read it. It's a lot more eloquent in the original Esperanto, but here is a translation into English that I've made.

The speech was made during a period of intense nationalist violence in Zamenhof's home region. Also at the time of the speech, some members of the Esperanto community thought that Zamenhof's idealism was scaring people away from Esperanto. They wanted to advertise and use Esperanto solely as an instrument for international business and communication and to drop any discussion of world peace. A few years earlier Zamenhof had reluctantly endorsed some of their ideas.

In this speech Zamenhof clarifies that he still sees the pursuit of world peace as the primary goal of Esperanto and he makes a plea for people in the Esperanto community (and beyond) to not lose their idealism. For more about Zamenhof and his political ideas, see here, and here.




London, 1907:

Esteemed representatives of the city of London, dear Esperantists! I'm very pleased to have the opportunity to greet the British people in their grand capital. We've just arrived from Cambridge where the British Esperantists, through hard work and great hospitality prepared a beautiful party. Not only Esperantists, but also many people who do not yet speak Esperanto, did everything they could to ensure that we made the best memories. Because of that, my first words are a sincere thanks for the hospitality that we enjoyed. Already for the second time we have enjoyed British hospitality, because certainly no one will have forgotten the friendly reception we received at Folkestone and Dover two years ago during the congress at Boulogne.

The great hall where we now find ourselves has hosted numerous important conventions and accepted many important guests. Now this same great hall is hosting representatives from all corners of the Esperanto world. Who are these new guests? What is this thing that they represent? The goal of Esperantism is mutual understanding and consequently also love and esteem among all races and nations. But that goal is often poorly communicated and, under under the influence of agitation from various enemies of ours, we are often accused of having goals that we don't actually have. Here I am speaking of two accusations that we often hear. From various malcontents, we often hear the objection that the problem of international language can be solved in some better way, and that we are being stubborn for only wanting Esperanto.

I've repeated many times, and in Boulogne proclaimed through an official declaration, that the only goal of Esperantism is for there to exist a suitable and living tool to facilitate understanding among peoples, but that the identity of that tool is for us, or at least for me personally, totally indifferent. That if, instead of constantly experimenting and theorizing, we decided to choose the complete and practically demonstrated language Esperanto and work specifically and exclusively for it and make for it an untouchable foundation, we did this not because we particularly like Zamenhof and his work, and not because we want to make him into some kind of Pope, as some of our enemies say, but only because our research and experience has shown us that our path is the only one that has the greatest chance of bringing about our goal.

There are people who, in trying to distract us from our path have only the best and most sincere intentions. They are very generous to us but they think that if we make those improvements that they suggest, our path will be made easier. Of those people, we are convinced that sooner or later they will understand their errors. They will understand how dangerous their proposals are at the current time, when what we need above all else is unity, and they will patiently work with us according to our chosen way until a time when the future of Esperanto will be completely safe from danger.

But there are other people who work only to destroy. To those men, who are bothered by our beautifully growing tree and who try with all their might to undermine it, we call out: if you have another way which can lead us to our goal better or more certainly, show it to us and we will follow you. But you know that you propose not something ready and certain, but only conjectures and theoretical opinions. You know that acceptance of your dubious and soon-to-be criticized improvement would ruin two decades of careful and successful work of thousands of people, and would leave nothing in its place. You know that if we abandoned our path and abandoned Esperanto, then the world's confidence in the idea of a world language, a confidence acquired after hundreds and thousands of acts of disbelief, would perish forever and would be impossible to revive. You know that, and still you try with all your strength to discredit us in the eyes of the world. Good, continue with your work of Herostratus, and we will happily continue on our way.

The second accusation that we often hear is that we Esperantists are unpatriotic. Because those Esperantists who treat Esperantism as an ideal preach mutual justice and brotherhood among peoples, and because, according to the opinion of nationalists, patriotism consists of hate against everything unfamiliar, and for that reason they think we are unpatriotic, and they say that Esperantists don't love their own country. Against this deceitful, shameful, and slanderous accusation we protest most energetically. We protest with every last fiber of our heart! While pseudo-patriotism, that is nationalism, is part of that common hate that destroys the whole world, true patriotism is part of that grand world-wide love that creates, preserves, and brings joy. The Esperantism that preaches love, and the patriotism that also preaches love will never be each other's enemy. Anyone can talk with us about any kind of love and we will gratefully listen, but when love of country is brought up by nationalists, those representatives of despicable hate, those lightless demons, who not only among countries, but also within their own homeland, constantly incite person against person -- then we turn away with the highest indignation. You dark sowers of discord, only speak about hate against everything that isn't yours, but never use the word "love" because in your mouth the holy word "love" is defiled.

You stand now before my eyes, my dear Lithuania, my unhappy fatherland, which I can never forget, even though I left you as a young boy. You, who I see often in my dreams, you, who can't ever be replaced in my heart by any other piece of ground, tell us who it is who loves you more sincerely, to a higher degree, and with more of their heart. Is it I, the idealistic Esperantist, who dreams of brotherhood among all of your inhabitants, even though I've regrettably had to abandon you, like hundreds of thousands of your other children -- or is it those people who want you to belong only to them, and who want all of your other children to be regarded as foreigners and slaves! Oh, patriotism, patriotism, when will people finally properly understand your true meaning! When will your holy name stop being a weapon in the hands of various liars! When will every person finally have the right and ability to be attached with their whole heart to that piece of land that bore them!

This dark night will last on earth for a long time, but it wont last forever. There will come a time when people will stop being wolves against each other. Instead of constantly fighting among themselves, tearing each other's father lands away, and forcefully foisting their language and values on one another, they will live among each other with peace and brotherhood, in complete accord, they will work on the ground where they live and against the raw forces of nature which everyone will attack together. And together and with common agreement, they will pursue one truth and one happiness. And if eventually that happy time comes, it will be the fruit of the constant and tireless work of those people whom we see now in this big room, and whose name, still not widely known and not widely esteemed, is "Esperantists".