| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson: obligation, an unknown but not an innocent freedom of the soul. I
knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more
wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold a slave to my original evil; and
the thought, in that moment, braced and delighted me like wine. I
stretched out my hands, exulting in the freshness of these
sensations; and in the act, I was suddenly aware that I had lost
in stature.
There was no mirror, at that date, in my room; that which
stands beside me as I write, was brought there later on and for
the very purpose of these transformations. The night however, was
far gone into the morning--the morning, black as it was, was
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Democracy In America, Volume 1 by Alexis de Toqueville: workman in easy circumstances; his son goes to seek his fortune
in unpeopled regions, and he becomes a rich landowner. The
former amasses the capital which the latter invests, and the
stranger as well as the native is unacquainted with want.
The laws of the United States are extremely favorable to the
division of property; but a cause which is more powerful than the
laws prevents property from being divided to excess. *c This is
very perceptible in the States which are beginning to be thickly
peopled; Massachusetts is the most populous part of the Union,
but it contains only eighty inhabitants to the square mile, which
is must less than in France, where 162 are reckoned to the same
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Tapestried Chamber by Walter Scott: delighted with my covering from the elements, that I made a vain
attempt to have it rolled on to my next quarters; but my
commander for the time would give way to no such luxurious
provision, and I took farewell of my beloved cask with tears in
my eyes."
"Well, then, since you do not fear your quarters," said Lord
Woodville, "you will stay with me a week at least. Of guns,
dogs, fishing-rods, flies, and means of sport by sea and land, we
have enough and to spare--you cannot pitch on an amusement but we
will find the means of pursuing it. But if you prefer the gun
and pointers, I will go with you myself, and see whether you have
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