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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 Man, White
We all want to help one another, human beings are like that
We want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery
We don't want to hate and despise one another
And this world has 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 posioned 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 us abundance has left us in want
Our knowledge has made us cynincal
Our cleverness, hard and unkind
We think too much, and feel too little
More than machinery, we need humanity
More that 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 inventions cries out for the goodness in men - 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 is now 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
Soldiers!
Don't give yourselves to brutes - men 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, 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 not cattle!
You are men!
You have the love of humanity in your hearts!
You don't hate!
Only the unloved hate - the unloved and the unnatural!
Soldiers!
Don't fight for slavery!
Fight for liberty!
In the 17th Chapter of St Luke it is written: "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 fulfil that promise!
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 all men's happiness
Soldiers!
In the name of democracy, let us all unite

-Charlie Chaplin in 'The Great Dictator'


Note: I did this work in early 2018. I was inspired by the Criterion Collection's cover for Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times, which was designed by artist Sam Smith.
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Modern Times Drawing

Philip Leister

Drawing, Marker on Canvas

Size: 18 W x 24 H x 0.5 D in

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About The Artwork

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 Man, White We all want to help one another, human beings are like that We want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery We don't want to hate and despise one another And this world has 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 posioned 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 us abundance has left us in want Our knowledge has made us cynincal Our cleverness, hard and unkind We think too much, and feel too little More than machinery, we need humanity More that 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 inventions cries out for the goodness in men - 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 is now 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 Soldiers! Don't give yourselves to brutes - men 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, 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 not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don't hate! Only the unloved hate - the unloved and the unnatural! Soldiers! Don't fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! In the 17th Chapter of St Luke it is written: "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 fulfil that promise! 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 all men's happiness Soldiers! In the name of democracy, let us all unite -Charlie Chaplin in 'The Great Dictator' Note: I did this work in early 2018. I was inspired by the Criterion Collection's cover for Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times, which was designed by artist Sam Smith.

Details & Dimensions

Drawing:Marker on Canvas

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:18 W x 24 H x 0.5 D in

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I’m (I am?) a self-taught artist, originally from the north suburbs of Chicago (also known as John Hughes' America). Born in 1984, I started painting in 2017 and began to take it somewhat seriously in 2019. I currently reside in rural Montana and live a secluded life with my three dogs - Pebbles (a.k.a. Jaws, Brandy, Fang), Bam Bam (a.k.a. Scrat, Dinki-Di, Trash Panda, Dug), and Mystique (a.k.a. Lady), and five cats - Burglekutt (a.k.a. Ghostmouse Makah), Vohnkar! (a.k.a. Storm Shadow, Grogu), Falkor (a.k.a. Moro, The Mummy's Kryptonite, Wendigo, BFC), Nibbler (a.k.a. Cobblepot), and Meegosh (a.k.a. Lenny). Part of the preface to the 'Complete Works of Emily Dickinson helps sum me up as a person and an artist: "The verses of Emily Dickinson belong emphatically to what Emerson long since called ‘the Poetry of the Portfolio,’ something produced absolutely without the thought of publication, and solely by way of expression of the writer's own mind. Such verse must inevitably forfeit whatever advantage lies in the discipline of public criticism and the enforced conformity to accepted ways. On the other hand, it may often gain something through the habit of freedom and unconventional utterance of daring thoughts. In the case of the present author, there was no choice in the matter; she must write thus, or not at all. A recluse by temperament and habit, literally spending years without settling her foot beyond the doorstep, and many more years during which her walks were strictly limited to her father's grounds, she habitually concealed her mind, like her person, from all but a few friends; and it was with great difficulty that she was persuaded to print during her lifetime, three or four poems. Yet she wrote verses in great abundance; and though brought curiosity indifferent to all conventional rules, had yet a rigorous literary standard of her own, and often altered a word many times to suit an ear which had its own tenacious fastidiousness." -Thomas Wentworth Higginson "Not bad... you say this is your first lesson?" "Yes, but my father was an *art collector*, so…"

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