Daily Inspiration Quote by David Hare

Oratory, Hare implies, is less about sounding smart than about wanting something hard enough to risk being disliked for it. “The will must predominate” isn’t a Hallmark ode to confidence; it’s a stage-direction disguised as advice: enter with an objective, pursue it, and don’t let the room’s moods rewrite your purpose mid-sentence. Coming from a playwright, the line smuggles in a dramatist’s skepticism about “mere eloquence.” Beautiful language is cheap if it isn’t tethered to a forceful intention. In the theater, a character without will is dead air. Hare is arguing that public speech works on the same physics.

The subtext is slightly scolding. We live in cultures that fetishize delivery tips, vocal fry discourse, and the performance of authenticity. Hare’s point is that these are props. The engine is volition: the speaker’s decision to move an audience from one state to another, to push an argument through resistance. Predominate suggests conflict. Oratory isn’t a recital; it’s a contest between speaker, audience, and circumstance. Will is what keeps the speaker from dissolving into polite ambiguity when the applause is uncertain or the questions turn hostile.

Contextually, Hare’s career - political plays, institutional critique, moral discomfort - makes the claim feel earned. He’s watched language get domesticated into PR and committee-speak. “Will” is his antidote: rhetoric as agency, not ornament. The best speeches don’t just communicate; they impose a direction on reality, and the audience feels that pressure even when they disagree.