3 h 43 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 3 h 43 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if love is not a feeling to wait for, but a habit to practise?
In The Greatest Thing in the World and Other Addresses, Henry Drummond asks what a life is for. His title talk turns to the thirteenth chapter of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. Through this passage, he explores love as patience, kindness and good temper: qualities a person can name and practise.
The other addresses explore inner peace, honest doubt and the slow work of changing character. Drummond speaks to ordinary listeners with plain pictures and short sentences. His concern is practical: how does a person learn to live well? Together, these talks invite you to consider faith through the habits of daily life.
What you’ll discover
- Love beyond feeling Explore Drummond's view of love as daily practice rather than a passing warmth.
- The ingredients of kindness Consider patience, generosity, humility and courtesy as qualities you can put into practice.
- The harder tests Look closely at unselfishness and good temper, where Drummond finds demanding tests of love.
- Room for honest doubt Find addresses that bring questions of faith alongside inner peace and gradual change.
- A plainspoken guide Follow a Victorian preacher's clear, spoken style as he asks what matters in life.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this book if you like clear, warm talks on love, character and everyday goodness, or want practical thoughts to take into your own week.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Love ranks above faith and every gift
- Love is made of nine ordinary virtues
- Bad temper exposes a loveless heart
- Love is learned by practice and by looking
- Only love lasts when everything else fades
- A whole life holds work, God and friends
- Rest and joy come from causes, not wishes
- Character changes by reflecting Christ
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La cosa più grande del mondo e altri discorsi
Drummond explores Paul’s view of faith, hope and love, showing why love endures and how to practise it daily.
Medium level2–5 hours to readItaliano
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In short
What is the one thing worth wanting, if you get to live only once? Henry Drummond, a Scottish preacher and writer who died in 1897, puts that question to his listeners and gives a surprising answer.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Love ranks above faith and every gift
Drummond opens with an old question about the highest good. What is the noblest thing a person can seek in one short life? Popular religion has long answered faith. Then he sends his listeners to the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians, where Paul states that the greatest of faith, hope and love is love.
Drummond says this is no slip of the pen. Paul calls even mountain-moving faith empty without love. Paul was not naturally tender, and the hand that wrote those words once belonged to a man stained with violence. So the choice carries weight.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 9 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
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- Italiano
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Cite this edition
Drummond, Henry. The Greatest Thing in the World and Other Addresses. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-greatest-thing-in-the-world-and-other-addresses.
Drummond, H. (2026). The greatest thing in the world and other addresses. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-greatest-thing-in-the-world-and-other-addresses
Drummond, Henry. The Greatest Thing in the World and Other Addresses. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-greatest-thing-in-the-world-and-other-addresses.
@book{drummond2026greatest,
author = {Drummond, Henry},
title = {The Greatest Thing in the World and Other Addresses},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-greatest-thing-in-the-world-and-other-addresses}
}
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What is The Greatest Thing in the World about?
It is an address built on Paul's thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians. Drummond argues that love is the highest good, explains its nine parts, and says it matters most because its endurance is certain.
What are the nine parts of love in Drummond's address?
They are patience, kindness, generosity, humility, courtesy, unselfishness, good temper, guilelessness and sincerity. Drummond draws them from Paul's short list and compares them to the colours in a beam of light.
What other addresses are in the book?
Besides the title address, it holds talks on The Angelus, on rest and joy, on seeking the kingdom first for boys, on how character changes, and on dealing with doubt.
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