| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Soul of Man by Oscar Wilde: tediously accumulating it long after he has got far more than he
wants, or can use, or enjoy, or perhaps even know of. Man will
kill himself by overwork in order to secure property, and really,
considering the enormous advantages that property brings, one is
hardly surprised. One's regret is that society should be
constructed on such a basis that man has been forced into a groove
in which he cannot freely develop what is wonderful, and
fascinating, and delightful in him - in which, in fact, he misses
the true pleasure and joy of living. He is also, under existing
conditions, very insecure. An enormously wealthy merchant may be -
often is - at every moment of his life at the mercy of things that
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton: you will find someone else a great deal cleverer--"
And without pausing to hear his answer she waved him a swift
farewell and turned back toward the threshold.
"Will my husband come soon?" she asked the Spirit of Life.
"That you are not destined to know," the Spirit replied.
"No matter," she said, cheerfully; "I have all eternity to wait
in."
And still seated alone on the threshold, she listens for the
creaking of his boots.
The End of The Fulness of Life
A VENETIAN NIGHT'S ENTERTAINMENT
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Cousin Pons by Honore de Balzac: something of an artist, and you may as well know that I never asked
anything of anybody yet! Who asked anything of you? Who owes you
anything? eh, old lady!"
"You are employed at a theatre, and your name is--?"
"Topinard, at your service."
"Kind regards to all at home," said La Sauvage, "and my compliments to
your missus, if you are married, mister. . . . That was all I wanted
to know."
"Why, what is the matter, dear?" asked Mme. Cantinet, coming out.
"This, child--stop here and look after the dinner while I run round to
speak to monsieur."
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