Brevity
The best illustration of the value of brief speech reckoned in dollars
was given by Mark Twain. His story was that when he had listened for
five minutes to the preacher telling of the heathen, he wept, and was
going to contribute fifty dollars, after ten minutes more of the sermon,
he reduced the amount of his prospective contribution to twenty-five
dollars, after half an hour more of eloquence, he cut the sum to five
dollars. At the end of an hour of oratory when the plate was passed, he
stole two dollars.