The untutored child of nature thinks largely in images and therefore attaches to

them undue importance. He readily confuses the real with the unreal--to him they

are of like value. But the man of training readily distinguishes the one from

the other and evaluates each with some, if not with perfect, justice.

 

So we see that unrestrained imaging may produce a rudderless steamer, while the

trained faculty is the graceful sloop, skimming the seas at her skipper's will,

her course steadied by the helm of reason and her lightsome wings catching every

air of heaven.

 

The game of chess, the war-lord's tactical plan, the evolution of a geometrical

theorem, the devising of a great business campaign, the elimination of waste in

a factory, the denouement of a powerful drama, the overcoming of an economic

obstacle, the scheme for a sublime poem, and the convincing siege of an audience

may--nay, indeed must--each be conceived in an image and wrought to reality

according to the plans and specifications laid upon the trestle board by some

modern imaginative Hiram. The farmer who would be content with the seed he

possesses would have no harvest. Do not rest satisfied with the ability to

recall images, but cultivate your creative imagination by building "what might

be" upon the foundation of "what is."

 

II. THE USES OF IMAGING IN PUBLIC SPEAKING

 

By this time you will have already made some general application of these ideas

to the art of the platform, but to several specific uses we must now refer.