For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
—II Tim. 4:3
3135 Ear’s Shape Shows Personality
If we are to believe the psychologists who specialize in human ears, it is possible to judge a person’s personality by the shape and size of his ears.
Take large ears, for example. When they are rounded, they show a strong nature that is concerned about truth and ideals, and also ambitions. If the ears are excessively large and fleshy, they point to a proud and pretentious nature.
Small ears belong to careful and prudent people who have the gift of willpower and perseverance. They also are evidence of a constantly wakeful intelligence.
As to oval ears, when they are well-formed, they show wisdom. A person with oval ears loves to study and has a desire for perfection. Ears that are cauliflower-shaped and not well-formed are the hallmark of frustrated, vulgar people without ideas and without charm.
Furthermore, the difference between a person’s two ears is said to mean something. If the right ear is larger than the left, the person acts in instinctive ways; in him fantasy has a stronger influence than reason. If the left ear is the larger one, the person is a cerebral type who never decides things casually.
3136 A Form of Deafness
There is a form of deafness known to physicians in which the person affected is able to hear everything except words. In such a case the ear, as an apparatus for mere hearing, may be so perfect that the tick of a watch or the song of a bird is really appreciated. But owing to a local injury deeper than the ear, for it is in the brain itself, all spoken words of his mother tongue are as unintelligible to the sufferer as those of a foreign language.
Give him a book and he may read as understandingly as ever, but every word addressed to him through his ear reaches his consciousness only as a sound, not as a word.
—W. H. Thompson
3137 TV News: In And Out
Telephoning TV viewers after a newscast, Andrew Stern, a former ABC News staffer now on the journalism faculty of the University of California at Berkeley, found that 51% of those who had listened could not recall even one of the show’s 19 items. Among all those called, the average memory rate was one item. The calls were made over a period ranging from immediately after the show’s sign-off to 3% hours later. Not surprisingly, the lead story was the most remembered.
Far and away the most quickly forgotten material was the show-ending commentaries. Stern blames the poor retention rate on “disrupting factors,” especially dinner. His recommendation: the networks should shift their major newscasts of the day to 10:30 p.m.
3138 To Read But Not To Hear
King James the Second commanded an Act of Parliament, called the “Liberty of Conscience Act,” to be read in all the churches. The clergy were very unwilling to read it, and some of their congregations did not wish to hear it. One Sunday, when the time came for reading the document, the pastor said to his congregation: “Though I am compelled to read this, you are not compelled to hear it,” upon which the people rose up and left the church, and the clergyman read the Act of Parliament to the pews, hassocks, and walls.
—J. H. Bomberger
3139 Gettysburg Address Went Unnoticed
Of Abraham Lincoln’s historic Gettysburg Address, Alexander Woollcot once hazarded an opinion that of the fifteen thousand persons present “only an inconsiderable few heard what Lincoln said.” The brief speech was over before the “arc of attention” had been fully established.
3140 Fact And Faith
The minister’s sermon concerned the relationship between fact and faith. “That you are sitting before me in this church,” he said, “is fact. That I am standing, speaking from this pulpit, is fact. But it is only faith that makes me believe anyone is listening.”
—Pastor’s Manual
3141 Preacher Was Against Sin
Calvin Coolidge attended church alone because of the indisposition of Mrs. Coolidge. When he arrived back home he went up to his wife’s room to see how she was feeling. She promptly reassured him, and asked him if he had enjoyed the sermon. He replied in a weak affirmative.
“What was it about?” she continued.
“Sin.”
“What did the minister say?”
“He was against it.”
3142 Persistent Fly On Skeptic
A hardened unbeliever went one day to see—but not to hear—George Whitefield when he preached outdoors to a great throng. In order to have a good vantage point, he climbed a nearby tree. Putting his fingers in both ears, he began to watch the mighty preacher. Then a persistent fly lit on his nose. He shook his head, but the fly wouldn’t move.
Just as he removed a hand from an ear to flick the fly away, Whitefield quoted the verse, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 11:15). Then he spoke of the willful refusal of many to hear the Spirit’s voice. The unbeliever was so impressed by what happened that he opened not only his ears to the gospel, but also his heart.
—Gospel Herald
3143 No Second Hearing
When Wagner’s “Lohengrin” was first performed in Paris, Rossini was asked his opinion of the work.
“One cannot judge a work upon a single hearing,” replied the Italian composer, “and I have no intention of hearing this work a second time.”
3144 Ear of Dionysius
In the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral there is what is known as the “Whispering Gallery.” Through the peculiar construction of the dome a whisper by a person at one side travels round and can be distinctly heard by another person standing at the other.
An even more remarkable whispering gallery is that known as the “Ear of Dionysius” at Syracuse in Sicily. This is a vast cave, which externally bears a resemblance to a human ear. Entering by a low doorway, the visitor finds himself in a huge cavern. High up, concealed in the roof, is a chamber, which can only be entered by a concealed path at the top. The faintest whisper uttered below is distinctly heard by those concealed above.
In this chamber the tyrant Dionysius used to sit listening to his slaves working or to his captives imprisoned below. All their plots against him were thus, to them, mysteriously discovered and circumvented. From this historical fact the cave has received the name of the “Ear of Dionysius.”
—James Burns
3145 All Ears For Fables
The orator Demades was once addressing the people of Athens, and since they paid little attention to his speech he asked for permission to tell them a fable of Aesop. On obtaining their consent he began: “Demeter was traveling in company with a swallow and an eel. When they reached the bank of a river, the swallow flew up into the air and the eel plunged into the water.” At this point he stopped. “Well,” they asked, “and what about Demeter?” “He is angry with you,” he said, “because you disregard affairs of state and are all ears for Aesop’s fables.”
—Selected
3146 A Digression In Hebrew
When Bishop Aylmer saw his congregation inattentive, he would recite some verses from the Hebrew Bible. His audience would stare with astonishment; then he would tell them the folly of listening to an unknown tongue, and neglecting words so easily comprehended.
—Foster
3147 Where Is The Piccolo?
Sir Michael Costa, the celebrated conductor, was holding a rehearsal. As the mighty chorus rang out, accompanied by hundreds of instruments, the piccolo player ceased playing, thinking perhaps that his contribution would not be missed amid so much music. Suddenly the great leader stopped and cried out: “Where is the piccolo?” The sound of that one small instrument was necessary to the harmony, and the conductor’s ear had not missed it.
—Selected
3148 Hopeless Case For Strabo
We are reminded of the old story by Strabo, the Greek philosopher. A musician was playing in a public place and, as he thought, holding his audience spellbound. But after a while the market bell sounded, and instantly all but one of his listeners left, for they did not want to miss the opportunity the market afforded. The musician turned to his solitary, as he thought, admirer, and complimented him for having a soul above merchandise, so that he was not drawn away by the market bell.
“Master,” the old man said, “I am hard of hearing. Did you say the market bell had rung?”
When he was assured it had, the man said, “Then I must be off.” And away went the last man, unrestrained by the bonds of harmony.
—Spurgeon
3149 Epigram On Listening
• Every man is superior to me in some way and from him I can learn.
—Emerson
• Talk and you say what you already know, but listen and you learn something new.
• To entertain some people all you have to do is listen.
—Bernard Edinger
• A paradise on hearsay, a hell at sight.
—Japanese Proverb
See also: Knowledge ; Learning ; Rev. 3:13.