| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Art of War by Sun Tzu: pitched battles.]
29. The skillful tactician may be likened to the SHUAI-JAN.
Now the SHUAI-JAN is a snake that is found in the Ch`ang
mountains.
["Shuai-jan" means "suddenly" or "rapidly," and the snake in
question was doubtless so called owing to the rapidity of its
movements. Through this passage, the term in the Chinese has now
come to be used in the sense of "military maneuvers."]
Strike at its head, and you will be attacked by its tail; strike
at its tail, and you will be attacked by its head; strike at its
middle, and you will be attacked by head and tail both.
The Art of War |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry: End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of THE GIFT OF THE MAGI.
The Gift of the Magi |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Egmont by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe: me! The moments are precious. Thou art the son of the all-powerful, and
thou hast power thyself. Let us fly! I know the roads; the means of
effecting our escape cannot be unknown to thee. These walls, a few short
miles, alone separate me from my friends. Loose these fetters, conduct me
to them; be ours. The king, on some future day, will doubtless thank my
deliverer. Now he is taken by surprise, or perchance he is ignorant of the
whole proceeding. Thy father ventures on this daring step, and majesty,
though horror-struck at the deed, must needs sanction the irrevocable.
Thou dost deliberate? Oh, contrive for me the way to freedom! Speak;
nourish hope in a living soul.
Ferdinand. Cease! Oh, cease! Every word deepens my despair. There is
Egmont |
