| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Adieu by Honore de Balzac: must burn the bridge the moment they appear. Therefore, my friend,
take your courage in your hand! Go to the heights. Tell General
Fournier he has barely time to evacuate his position, force a way
through this crowd, and cross the bridge. When you have seen him in
motion follow him. Find men you can trust, and the moment Fournier had
crossed the bridge, burn, without pity, huts, equipages, caissons,
carriages,--EVERYTHING! Drive that mass of men to the bridge. Compel
all that has two legs to get to the other side of the river. The
burning of everything--EVERYTHING--is now our last resource. If
Berthier had let me destroy those damned camp equipages, this river
would swallow only my poor pontoniers, those fifty heroes who will
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne: unconscious of the danger he was in of losing the steamer,
was quietly escorting Aouda about the streets of the English quarter,
making the necessary purchases for the long voyage before them.
It was all very well for an Englishman like Mr. Fogg to make the
tour of the world with a carpet-bag; a lady could not be expected
to travel comfortably under such conditions. He acquitted
his task with characteristic serenity, and invariably replied
to the remonstrances of his fair companion, who was confused
by his patience and generosity:
"It is in the interest of my journey--a part of my programme."
The purchases made, they returned to the hotel, where they
Around the World in 80 Days |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Lost Princess of Oz by L. Frank Baum: land side it seemed impossible to get across the gulf or, succeeding
in that, to gain a foothold on any of the whirling mountains.
"This ditch is too wide to jump across," remarked Button-Bright.
"P'raps the Lion could do it," suggested Dorothy.
"What, jump from here to that whirling hill?" cried the Lion
indignantly. "I should say not! Even if I landed there and could
hold on, what good would it do? There's another spinning mountain
beyond it, and perhaps still another beyond that. I don't believe any
living creature could jump from one mountain to another when both are
whirling like tops and in different directions."
"I propose we turn back," said the Wooden Sawhorse with a yawn of his
The Lost Princess of Oz |
