| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Master and Man by Leo Tolstoy: an habitual drunkard, was not drunk that day because since the
last day before the fast, when he had drunk his coat and
leather boots, he had sworn off drink and had kept his vow for
two months, and was still keeping it despite the temptation of
the vodka that had been drunk everywhere during the first two
days of the feast.
Nikita was a peasant of about fifty from a neighbouring
village, 'not a manager' as the peasants said of him, meaning
that he was not the thrifty head of a household but lived most
of his time away from home as a labourer. He was valued
everywhere for his industry, dexterity, and strength at work,
Master and Man |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Meno by Plato: mistaken, he was about seventy years old at his death, forty of which were
spent in the practice of his profession; and during all that time he had a
good reputation, which to this day he retains: and not only Protagoras,
but many others are well spoken of; some who lived before him, and others
who are still living. Now, when you say that they deceived and corrupted
the youth, are they to be supposed to have corrupted them consciously or
unconsciously? Can those who were deemed by many to be the wisest men of
Hellas have been out of their minds?
ANYTUS: Out of their minds! No, Socrates; the young men who gave their
money to them were out of their minds, and their relations and guardians
who entrusted their youth to the care of these men were still more out of
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Alkahest by Honore de Balzac: time Balthazar's condition grew rapidly worse. The man formerly so
wrapped up in his domestic happiness, who played for hours with his
children on the parlor carpet or round the garden paths, who seemed
able to exist only in the light of his Pepita's dark eyes, did not
even perceive her pregnancy, seldom shared the family life, and even
forgot his own.
The longer Madame Claes postponed inquiring into the cause of his
preoccupation the less she dared to do so. At the very idea, her blood
ran cold and her voice grew faint. At last the thought occurred to her
that she had ceased to please her husband, and then indeed she was
seriously alarmed. That fear now filled her mind, drove her to
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