| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Barlaam and Ioasaph by St. John of Damascus: buried in evil habits, doth not even perceive the stink of her
sin, but rather delighteth and rejoiceth therein, cleaving to
wickedness as it were good. And even if at last she issue from
the mire and come to herself again, she is delivered only by much
labour and sweat from the bondage of those sins, to which she
hath by evil custom enslaved herself.
"Wherefore with all thy might remove thyself far from every evil
thought and fancy, and every sinful custom; and school thyself
the rather in virtuous deeds, and form the habit of practising
them. For if thou labour but a little therein, and have strength
to form the habit, at the last, God helping thee, thou shalt
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Foolish Virgin by Thomas Dixon: She must act now. There was no time to lose. She
pressed her ear to the crack once more and held it five
minutes.
Not a sound came from within. The broken spirit
had yielded to the stupor of exhaustion at last.
With swift, cat's tread Nance circled the cabin and
entered the kitchen. The quilt she carefully spread on
the floor leading to the entrance to the living-room,
crossed it softly and stood in the doorway with her
long hands on the calico hangings.
For five minutes she remained immovable and
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy: comparison with that which preoccupied them, the question of
music was indifferent to them. I accompanied him with especial
courtesy to the hall (how can one help accompanying a man who has
come to disturb your tranquillity and ruin the happiness of the
entire family?), and I shook his white, soft hand with fervent
amiability.
CHAPTER XXII.
"All that day I did not speak to my wife. I could not. Her
proximity excited such hatred that I feared myself. At the table
she asked me, in presence of the children, when I was to start
The Kreutzer Sonata |
