As a public speaker you can assist this emphasis of contrast with your voice. If

you say, "My horse is not _black_," what color immediately comes into mind?

White, naturally, for that is the opposite of black. If you wish to bring out

the thought that destiny is a matter of choice, you can do so more effectively

by first saying that "_DESTINY_ is _NOT_ a matter of _CHANCE_." Is not the color

of the horse impressed upon us more emphatically when you say, "My horse is _NOT

BLACK_. He is _WHITE_" than it would be by hearing you assert merely that your

horse is white?

 

In the second sentence of the statement there is only one important

word--_choice_. It is the one word that positively defines the quality of the

subject being discussed, and the author of those lines desired to bring it out

emphatically, as he has shown by contrasting it with another idea. These lines,

then, would read like this:

 

"_DESTINY_ is _NOT_ a matter of _CHANCE_. It is a matter of _CHOICE_." Now read

this over, striking the words in capitals with a great deal of force.

 

In almost every sentence there are a few _MOUNTAIN PEAK WORDS_ that represent

the big, important ideas. When you pick up the evening paper you can tell at a

glance which are the important news articles. Thanks to the editor, he does not

tell about a "hold up" in Hong Kong in the same sized type as he uses to report

the death of five firemen in your home city. Size of type is his device to show

emphasis in bold relief. He brings out sometimes even in red headlines the