| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The King of the Golden River by John Ruskin: at its source three drops of holy water, for him and for him only
the river shall turn to gold. But no one failing in his first can
succeed in a second attempt, and if anyone shall cast unholy water
into the river, it will overwhelm him and he will become a black
stone." So saying, the King of the Golden River turned away and
deliberately walked into the center of the hottest flame of the
furnace. His figure became red, white, transparent, dazzling,--a
blaze of intense light,--rose, trembled, and disappeared. The King
of the Golden River had evaporated.
"Oh!" cried poor Gluck, running to look up the chimney after
him, "O dear, dear, dear me! My mug! my mug! my mug!"
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Mirror of the Sea by Joseph Conrad: ship lying at the Circular Quay in Sydney. His voice was deep,
hearty, and authoritative - the voice of a very prince amongst
sailors. He did everything with an air which put your attention on
the alert and raised your expectations, but the result somehow was
always on stereotyped lines, unsuggestive, empty of any lesson that
one could lay to heart. He kept his ship in apple-pie order, which
would have been seamanlike enough but for a finicking touch in its
details. His officers affected a superiority over the rest of us,
but the boredom of their souls appeared in their manner of dreary
submission to the fads of their commander. It was only his
apprenticed boys whose irrepressible spirits were not affected by
The Mirror of the Sea |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Tao Teh King by Lao-tze: Employ it the kingdom o'er,
And men thrive all around.
3. In this way the effect will be seen in the person, by the
observation of different cases; in the family; in the neighbourhood;
in the state; and in the kingdom.
4. How do I know that this effect is sure to hold thus all under the
sky? By this (method of observation).
55. 1. He who has in himself abundantly the attributes (of the Tao) is
like an infant. Poisonous insects will not sting him; fierce beasts
will not seize him; birds of prey will not strike him.
2. (The infant's) bones are weak and its sinews soft, but yet its
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