| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Cratylus by Plato: deductions which follow. And this is the reason why every man should
expend his chief thought and attention on the consideration of his first
principles:--are they or are they not rightly laid down? and when he has
duly sifted them, all the rest will follow. Now I should be astonished to
find that names are really consistent. And here let us revert to our
former discussion: Were we not saying that all things are in motion and
progress and flux, and that this idea of motion is expressed by names? Do
you not conceive that to be the meaning of them?
CRATYLUS: Yes; that is assuredly their meaning, and the true meaning.
SOCRATES: Let us revert to episteme (knowledge) and observe how ambiguous
this word is, seeming rather to signify stopping the soul at things than
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from King James Bible: LEV 10:4 And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the
uncle of Aaron, and said unto them, Come near, carry your brethren from
before the sanctuary out of the camp.
LEV 10:5 So they went near, and carried them in their coats out of the
camp; as Moses had said.
LEV 10:6 And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar,
his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye
die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the
whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD hath kindled.
LEV 10:7 And ye shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation, lest ye die: for the anointing oil of the LORD is upon
King James Bible |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Travels with a Donkey in the Cevenne by Robert Louis Stevenson: agglomerations of soot and blue vapour, to the sky; and whenever a
handful of twigs was thrown on to the fire, my legs were scorched
by the blaze.
The husband had begun life as a muleteer, and when I came to charge
Modestine showed himself full of the prudence of his art. 'You
will have to change this package,' said he; 'it ought to be in two
parts, and then you might have double the weight.'
I explained that I wanted no more weight; and for no donkey
hitherto created would I cut my sleeping-bag in two.
'It fatigues her, however,' said the innkeeper; 'it fatigues her
greatly on the march. Look.'
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