It is not necessary for a preacher to express all his thoughts in one sermon. A preacher should have three principles: first, to make a good beginning, and not spend time with many words before coming to the point; secondly, to say that which belongs to the subject in chief, and avoid strange and foreign thoughts; thirdly, to stop at the proper time.
—Martin Luther, cited in James Macauley, Luther Anecdotes, Memorable Sayings and Doings of Martin Luther (London: 1883) 121.
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