| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Atheist's Mass by Honore de Balzac: on a matter of honor, going to the point without waste of words,
and as ready to pledge his cloak for a friend as to give him his
time and his night hours. Horace, in short, was one of those
friends who are never anxious as to what they may get in return
for what they give, feeling sure that they will in their turn get
more than they give. Most of his friends felt for him that
deeply-seated respect which is inspired by unostentatious virtue,
and many of them dreaded his censure. But Horace made no pedantic
display of his qualities. He was neither a puritan nor a
preacher; he could swear with a grace as he gave his advice, and
was always ready for a jollification when occasion offered. A
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Cousin Pons by Honore de Balzac: terrible Presidente; he knew all about those suave modulations of a
naturally sharp voice. He thought of another president, the hero of an
anecdote related by Louis XI., stamped by that monarch's final praise.
Blessed with a wife after the pattern of Socrates' spouse, and
ungifted with the sage's philosophy, he mingled salt with the corn in
the mangers and forbad the grooms to give water to the horses. As his
wife rode along the Seine towards their country-house, the animals
bolted into the river with the lady, and the magistrate returned
thanks to Providence for ridding him of his wife "in so natural a
manner." At this present moment Mme. de Marville thanked Heaven for
placing at Pons' bedside a woman so likely to get him "decently" out
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Emma McChesney & Co. by Edna Ferber: bursting with adjectives that had nothing to do with business.
You've avoided my office as you would a small-pox camp. You've
greeted me with a what-can-I-do-for-you air when I've dared to
invade yours. You couldn't have been less cordial to a book
agent. If it weren't for those two hours you grant me in the
evening, I'd--I'd blow up with a loud report, that's what.
I'd----"
"Now, now, T. A.!" interrupted Emma McChesney soothingly, and
patted one gesticulating arm. "It has been a bit of a
strain--for both of us. But, you know, we agreed it would be
best this way. We've ten days more to go. Let's stick it out as
Emma McChesney & Co. |
