No wreaths are laid at its feet in remembrance, and there are no lofty speeches made in tribute.

There were lofty speeches here and there about America, some recited the Declaration of Independence and a few spoke of freedom in a nation that seems to stumble often.

The first was a lofty speech about domestic needs, full of oratory and lacking substance.

But my Master, for all his lofty speeches on the virtues of humans, and his adamant insistence on our own responsibilities, nevertheless taught me to kill with finesse.

According to Longinus, Demosthenes "perfected to the utmost the tone of lofty speech, living passions, copiousness, readiness, speed".

President Clinton's lofty speeches about education, Social Security and the Asian economy fall on ears now pricked for innuendo, eyes focused on the small signs of personal distress.

In a lofty speech soon after Katrina, Mr. Bush vowed that "we will do what it takes" to rebuild the damaged communities.

Longinus likened Demosthenes to a blazing thunderbolt, and argued that he "perfected to the utmost the tone of lofty speech, living passions, copiousness, readiness, speed".

He strips "Kids" of lofty speeches, disapproving parents and nice-guy heroes, concentrating only on the hedonistic here-and-now.

The lofty speeches and rhetoric about remembrance masked a rancor that had worsened with each of the nine years it took to bring the museum to that point.