| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Phaedo by Plato: captivity. But philosophy has spoken to him, and he has heard her voice;
she has gently entreated him, and brought him out of the 'miry clay,' and
purged away the mists of passion and the illusions of sense which envelope
him; his soul has escaped from the influence of pleasures and pains, which
are like nails fastening her to the body. To that prison-house she will
not return; and therefore she abstains from bodily pleasures--not from a
desire of having more or greater ones, but because she knows that only when
calm and free from the dominion of the body can she behold the light of
truth.
Simmias and Cebes remain in doubt; but they are unwilling to raise
objections at such a time. Socrates wonders at their reluctance. Let them
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from When the World Shook by H. Rider Haggard: again!"
I looked and it was Yva's face that was pressed against my own,
and Yva's eyes that gazed into mine. Only she was garbed as my
wife had been, and on her bosom hung the changeful necklace.
"You may not stay," she whispered, and lo! it was my wife that
spoke, not Yva.
"Tell me what it means?" I implored.
"I cannot," she answered. "There are mysteries that you may not
know as yet. Love Yva if you will and I shall not be jealous, for
in loving Yva you love me. You cannot understand? Then know this,
that the spirit has many shapes, and yet is the same spirit--
When the World Shook |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Iron Puddler by James J. Davis: The first act of a candidate is to have cards printed and pass
them out to every one he meets. My cards bore my name and my
slogan: "Play the game square." I argued that the workers should
take part in the city government. I quit the tin mill and went
around making speeches. And as there were no movies, and the men
had nothing to do evenings but listen to speeches, it was no
trouble at all to find an audience. I learned that a politician
or an orator has the same appetite for audiences that a drunkard
has for gin. When is an orator not an orator? When he hasn't got
an audience. I found that when a horse fell down on the street
and a crowd gathered to pick it up, somebody began "addressing
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