| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from A Straight Deal by Owen Wister: statement would have been equally veracious, and more striking.
As to Winston Churchill's declaration that Great Britain will not
surrender her control of the seas, I am as little shocked by that as I
should be were our Secretary of the Navy to declare that in no
circumstances would we give up control of the Panama Canal. The Panama
Canal is our carotid artery, Great Britain's navy is her jugular vein. It
is her jugular vein in the mind of her people, regardless of that new
apparition, the submarine. I was not shocked that Great Britain should
decline Mr. Wilson's invitation that she cut her jugular vein; it was the
invitation which kindled my emotions; but these were of a less serious
kind.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James: terms. But this view that judgment and execution go together is
that of the crasser supernaturalist way of thinking, so the
present volume must on the whole be classed with the other
expressions of that creed.
[363] See my Will to Believe and other Essays in popular
Philosophy. 1897, p. 165.
I state the matter thus bluntly, because the current of thought
in academic circles runs against me, and I feel like a man who
must set his back against an open door quickly if he does not
wish to see it closed and locked. In spite of its being so
shocking to the reigning intellectual tastes, I believe that a
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Alexander's Bridge by Willa Cather: a holiday. What do you say to a drive out to
Kew and Richmond? You may not get another
day like this all winter. It's like a fine
April day at home. May I use your telephone?
I want to order the carriage."
"Oh, how jolly! There, sit down at the desk.
And while you are telephoning I'll change my dress.
I shan't be long. All the morning papers are on the table."
Hilda was back in a few moments wearing a
long gray squirrel coat and a broad fur hat.
Bartley rose and inspected her. "Why don't
 Alexander's Bridge |