"Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to apologize to you for reading from a prepared text. Whereas I am, so to speak by vocation, a good listener, I am also—and no doubt for the same reasons--a poor speaker. My deepest commiserations therefore go to those, seated at the front, and who can’t leave the room discreetly, and my congratulations to those shrewd enough to have seated themselves conveniently near the exit."...