a mariner has laid out his course northeast or north-east-by-east, so it is with us when we aim at an idea: we can afford no inaccuracy in the direction indicated by our words. It is, for example, not enough to be able to say merely that a thing is or is not so; we need to pick out the more precise direction from some such compass-card as this:
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In like manner we can distinguish between the implications of single words. Thus, between the extremes of hoping and fearing, certain stages are clearly marked—to anticipate, to expect, and to apprehend. And it makes considerable difference whether we say that a course of action is right, expedient, convenient, desirable, or acceptable. In a summary, then, it is all-important that the shade of meaning be exact. Restrictions of form or method reduce themselves to a minimum, but this very freedom is a stimulating challenge to us that our grasp of thought be firm and our phrasing clear.
Topical Outlines.—Very different from the summary is the form of report that we may call the "topical outline." Its purpose is the same as that of the table of
