Bobby Kennedy

Ted Kennedy delivering the closing part of the eulogy at the funeral of his brother Robert Francis “Bobby” Kennedy. Ted used excerpts from Bobby’s Day of Affirmation Speech (text). This brilliant and one of his most noted speeches was given by Bobby when he was a U.S. Senator from New York. This to the National Union of South African Students members at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, on June 6, 1966. Bobby talked about individual liberty, apartheid, and the need for civil rights in the United States at a time when the American civil rights movement was ongoing. Ted Kennedy’s epic oration for his slain brother was given at Bobby’s funeral in New York City’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral on June 8, 1968. Just three days after the assassination in a Los Angeles hotel. Click here for the text (PDF) and here for the original video. Ted famously concluded his eulogy with a quote from his brother, paraphrasing it even further: “Some men see things as they are and say why? I dream things that never were and say why not?“ (Eulogy in CBS news video) Bobby stated a few times that he was always quoting George Bernard Shaw when he said this. Though it is often thought that he originated the expression. The original from George Bernard Shaw was: I hear you say “Why?” Always “Why?” You see things; and you say “Why?” But I dream things that never were; and I say “Why not?”