Thesaurus of Anecdotes Book

THESAUlRUi ANECDOTE Edited by EDMUND FULLER Editor of THESAURUS OF QUOTATIONS A NKW CLASSIFIED COLLECTION OF THE BEST ANECDOTES FROM ANCIENT TIMES TO THE PRESENT DAY CROWN PUBLISHERS NEW YORK INTRODUCTION Abraham Lincoln speaking They say J tell si gre it many stories I reckon I do, but I have found in the course o a long experience that common people, take them as they run, are more easily informed through the medium of a broad illustration than in any other way, and as to what the, hypercritical few may think, I dont care. Anecdotes are stories with points. They are tools nail-sinkers to drive home arguments fintoly. The recognition of their usefulness goes wiek centuries from Lincoln, Americas greatest anecdotist They are the origin of all teaching, In their old form they were known as parables. By means of them Jesus Christ taught, The prophets and sages of all ancient religion and wisdom employed the simple, effective parable. 1 will liken him unto n wist nuin, which built his house upon a rock-. Hearken Behold, there went out a sower to sow A certain man had two MWS - Thus, stories with points were made to embody profound teachings, So the Greek slave, Aesop, . sagely propounded his fables, Today the true anecdote is still the counterpart of the parable and full Time has tended to shorten it somewhat and, as an attribute of our temiKTatncnt, we have made it often funny The majority of the wuwhtfeK in this took are humorous. Many are serious and thought ful, All prove something, The thing to remember is, many jokes are micHxIoUvi Intt not all anecdotes are jokes To ee lest how to une the wealth of anecdotes in this book for your own nmli, for gpejJcmg teaching, preaching, lecturing, arguing or writing, read the mt of this introduction carefully. Study it before you pruccwl to the selection and adapting of your material It wil tcli you L How to select anecdote. 2 How to write ami teJl them 3. How to vary and adapt than. HOW TO SELECT YOUR MATERIAL , Table of Content wilt show you the general plan of the book. Tlie aneakrte are clarified in ten mm divisions. These are divided and yividbl by tqgical association. The association of ideas is not - yi INTRODUCTION the-trasis o Jn icft Iktaor, it is the key by which stories to drive home ycitrWfeiiiioiiy felbcated Tn each main division every story bears a gQ r tl relation to those immediately before and after it. A sinipfci kfid complete system of cross reference is provided. This counteracts tlie slightly arbitrary trend unavoidable in any met hot of classification. Many of the subject headings are related to subjects in other parts of the book. These are listed as RKLATKD SUBJECTS at the end of each group of anecdotes. You will also find, in each taKe, a list of SEE ALSOS, These refer you to individual stories listed tmder other headings yet bearing on the subject at hand As an example turn to Judges, 2486-2497, Here are 12 anecdotes If no one of them quite fills the bill try 1. The preceding subjects, Courts, Trials, 2, The SEE ALSOS at the end. 3. The RKLATKD SUBJECTS at the end. 4, The following subjects, Witnesses, Juries, 1c, Continue this process until you find the anecdotes you want and a many as you need. The Index is alphabetical and natxirally is much more comprehensive and detailed than the Table of Contents. It is better to look first in the Index when searching for a topic. The numbers an anecdote numbers, not page numbers. If by any chance your topic is not listed try a synonym, a related word, and more general or mw 5 eciftc words, HOW TO WRITE AND TKLL ANECDOTES IN using the written anecdote, if you wish to open with it, twgm at once, just as the Lincoln statement is used to ojK n this hitmihtdi jt, So used it may serve as the ideal presentation of the swhjnrt you arti about to discuss and the point which you plan to stress in comwctkm with it. In making a speech, the telling of a well-chosen anecdote may rvs as an attention fixer...Read More