| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from American Notes by Rudyard Kipling: There were about forty speeches delivered, and not one of them
was average or ordinary. It was my first introduction to the
American eagle screaming for all it was worth. The lieutenant's
heroism served as a peg from which the silver-tongued ones turned
themselves loose and kicked.
They ransacked the clouds of sunset, the thunderbolts of heaven,
the deeps of hell, and the splendor of the resurrection for
tropes and metaphors, and hurled the result at the head of the
guest of the evening.
Never since the morning stars sung together for joy, I learned,
had an amazed creation witnessed such superhuman bravery as that
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Oscar Wilde Miscellaneous by Oscar Wilde: One day, however, Mr. Willard wrote that he possessed a typewritten
fragment of a play which Wilde had submitted to him, and this he
kindly forwarded for my inspection. It agreed in nearly every
particular with what I had taken so much trouble to put together.
This suggests that the opening scene had never been written, as Mr.
Willard's version began where mine did. It was characteristic of
the author to finish what he never began.
When the Literary Theatre Society produced Salome in 1906 they asked
me for some other short drama by Wilde to present at the same time,
as Salome does not take very long to play. I offered them the
fragment of A Florentine Tragedy. By a fortunate coincidence the
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Twilight Land by Howard Pyle: "Very well," said Hans, "if ye will have it, I will tell it to
you; but, after all, it is not better than my own story, and the
poor man in the end gets no more than I did in my bargains."
"And what is your story about, my friend?" said Cinderella.
" Tis," said Hans, "about how--
Much shall have more and little shall have less.
Once upon a time there was a king who did the best he could to
rule wisely and well, and to deal justly by those under him whom
he had to take care of; and as he could not trust hearsay, he
used every now and then to slip away out of his palace and go
among his people to hear what they had to say for themselves
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