| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Just Folks by Edgar A. Guest: And to myself I say, "Who knows but here's another Ben?"
The Pathway of the Living
The pathway of the living is our ever-present care.
Let us do our best to smooth it and to make it bright and fair;
Let us travel it with kindness, let's be careful as we tread,
And give unto the living what we'd offer to the dead.
The pathway of the living we can beautify and grace;
We can line it deep with roses and make earth a happier place.
But we've done all mortals can do, when our prayers are softly said
For the souls of those that travel o'er the pathway of the dead.
The pathway of the living all our strength and courage needs,
Just Folks |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy: "I don't suppose I could?" he answered
"That's for you to think on. There's nobody after me just now,
though there med be in a week or two." She had spoken this without
a smile, and the dimples disappeared.
Jude felt himself drifting strangely, but could not help it.
"Will you let me?"
"I don't mind."
By this time she had managed to get back one dimple by turning
her face aside for a moment and repeating the odd little sucking
operation before mentioned, Jude being still unconscious of more than
a general impression of her appearance. "Next Sunday?" he hazarded.
Jude the Obscure |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: flowers, designing fairies, or illustrating stories with queer
specimens of art. Her teachers complained that instead of
doing her sums she covered her slate with animals, the blank
pages of her atlas were used to copy maps on, and caricatures
of the most ludicrous description came fluttering out of all
her books at unlucky moments. She got through her lessons as
well as she could, and managed to escape reprimands by being
a model of deportment. She was a great favorite with her mates,
being good-tempered and possessing the happy art of pleasing
without effort. Her little airs and graces were much admired,
so were her accomplishments, for besides her drawing, she could
Little Women |
