--TENNYSON, Lady Clara Vere de Vere.
'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view And robes the mountain in its azure hue.
--CAMPBELL, Pleasures of Hope.
His best companions, innocence and health, And his best riches, ignorance of wealth.
--GOLDSMITH, The Deserted Village.
Beware of desperate steps! The darkest day, Live till tomorrow, will have passed away.
--COWPER, Needless Alarm.
My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.
--PAINE, Rights of Man.
Trade it may help, society extend, But lures the pirate, and corrupts the friend: It raises armies in a nation's aid, But bribes a senate, and the land's betray'd.
--POPE, Moral Essays.[5]
O God, that men should put an enemy in their mouths to steal away their brains!
--SHAKESPEARE, Othello.
It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishment the scroll, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.
--HENLEY, Invictus.
The world is so full of a number of things, I am sure we should all be happy as kings.
--STEVENSON, A Child's Garden of Verses.
If your morals are dreary, depend upon it they are wrong.
--STEVENSON, Essays.
Every advantage has its tax. I learn to be content.
--EMERSON, Essays.
8. Make a two-minute speech on any of the following general subjects, but you will find that your ideas will come more readily if you narrow your subject by taking some specific phase of it. For instance, instead of trying to speak on "Law" in general, take the proposition, "The Poor Man Cannot Afford to Prosecute;" or instead of dwelling on "Leisure," show how modern speed is creating more leisure. In this way you may expand this subject list indefinitely.
GENERAL THEMES
Law. Politics. Woman's Suffrage. Initiative and Referendum. A Larger Navy. War. Peace. Foreign Immigration. The Liquor Traffic. Labor Unions. Strikes. Socialism. Single Tax. Tariff. Honesty. Courage. Hope. Love. Mercy. Kindness. Justice. Progress. Machinery. Invention. Wealth. Poverty. Agriculture. Science. Surgery. Haste. Leisure. Happiness. Health. Business. America. The Far East. Mobs. Colleges. Sports. Matrimony. Divorce. Child Labor. Education. Books. The Theater. Literature. Electricity. Achievement. Failure. Public Speaking. Ideals. Conversation. The Most Dramatic Moment of My Life. My Happiest Days. Things Worth While. What I Hope to Achieve. My Greatest Desire. What I Would Do with a Million Dollars. Is Mankind Progressing? Our Greatest Need.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 4: See chapter on "Increasing the Vocabulary."]
THE VOICE
Oh, there is something in that voice that reaches The innermost recesses of my spirit!
--LONGFELLOW, Christus.
The dramatic critic of The London Times once declared that acting is nine-tenths voice work. Leaving the message aside, the same may justly be said of public speaking. A rich, correctly-used voice is the greatest physical factor of persuasiveness and power, often over-topping the effects of reason.
But a good voice, well handled, is not only an effective possession for the professional speaker, it is a mark of personal culture as well, and even a distinct commercial asset. Gladstone, himself the possessor of a deep, musical voice, has said: "Ninety men in every hundred in the crowded professions will probably never rise above mediocrity because the training of the voice is entirely neglected and considered of no importance." These are words worth pondering.
There are three fundamental requisites for a good voice:
1. Ease
