The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-08-14
rhe Hair is Greater than the whole.

The Half is Greater than the Whole
It would not hurt some growp-ur
boys to adopt this motto, The half il
greater than the whole.
Here is man making a speech. Tc
anybody accustomed to watch speakers
closely it is evident that he exhausted
his stock of ideas in the first ten min
utes. Instead of stopping when he
was done, he went right on and On
and on, foundering away with words
until everybody became tired. Now
the half Of that speech would have
been greater than the whole. The
half might have been rattllng good
address, full of good points that every.
body could remember. The halt
might have done good. but the whole
simply worried the audience because
what the speaker said after he was
done destroyed the good effect of
what he had said before he was done.
It is poor oratorical policy to keep
the bare stones running after the grist
has been ground. An Irish barrister
was once asked to explain the secret
of his success with juries. His explain
alton was, "When I make good
point, T never say anything to jostle
it.n tits a pity to jostle good point.
Good points deserve better treatment.
They are not so plentiful in most
speeches that one can afford to jostle
them. The half with q few good
points makes much better speech
than the whole with no points at all.
Oratorically, as well as educationally,
the half is usually greater than the
whole.
There are many sermons of which
it might be said that the half would be
greater than the whole. How often
you hear it said of preacher, "Oh, If
he had just stopped at that point,
what a splendid impression the ser
mon would have made.n But he
didn't stop. With the best. motives
imaginable the good man went on and
destroyed the good effect of his own
sermon. 1t is q great pity to see q
good sermon spoilt by anybody, but it
Is more than pity to see it spoiled by
the man who had the labor Of making
it.
Why should any sane preacher spoil
his own sermon? Why not stop
when the impression is at its best? 1t
is not 80 easy to stop. A man speak
ing cannot measure time accurately
Twenty minutes may seen longer to
the hearer than an hour to the speaker.
Besides, most preachers have arrang-
ed to say q certain number of things.
These things are in their manuscripts,
or in notes, and they don't want to
wind up until they have said them.
The people don't care straw what q
man has in his manuscript or in his
notes. They want a good sermon,
wound up in reasonable time. The
preacher thinks he ought to give them
all he has prepared. The people don't
want quite that much. At this point
q difference of opinion about the length
of sermons often arises. The people
think the half would be greater than
the whole, but the preacher thinks
otherwise. Behind the question of
length lies another The people
made for the sermon or the sermon for
the people? If the people were Great
ed for the sole purpose Of listening to
sermons, then of course they should
listen to them at any length. If they
don't they fail in attaining the object
for which they were created. If, on
the other hand, sermons are made for
the people, the people may possibly
have right to say something about
their length. And if, in any case, the
people think the half would be great
er than the whole, perhaps 1t would be
as well to give them the half.
The half of many tea-meeting
would be much greater than the
whole. Up to a certain point the meet
ing is interesting and profitable.
Then it begins to drag. Hall a dozen
brethren are asked to make "a few re-
Marks" because they are present and
be offended if not asked. They begin
by informing the long suffering audi
ence that they have nothing to say,
and then take an hour to illustrate the
fact. No human being doubted their
word. No illustration was needed.
Then came wearisome votes Of thanks
to everybody. The half of that meet
ing would have been greater than the
whole. ;