Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop.

The Duchess: You're thinking about something, my dear,
and that makes you forget to talk.
I can't tell you just now what the moral of that is,
but I shall remember it in a bit.

Alice: Perhaps it hasn't one.

The Duchess: Tut, tut, child!
Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it.