The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Paz by Honore de Balzac: praised his friend in the noblest sincerity, "he picked up; he bought
them at auction, or as bargains from the dealers. Oh! he's keener than
they are themselves. If you see him rubbing his hands in the
courtyard, you may be sure he has traded away one good horse for a
better. He lives for me; his happiness is to see me elegant, in a
perfectly appointed equipage. The duties he takes upon himself are all
accomplished without fuss or emphasis. One evening I lost twenty
thousand francs at whist. 'What will Paz say?' thought I as I walked
home. Paz paid them to me, not without a sigh; but he never reproached
me, even by a look. But that sigh of his restrained me more than the
remonstrances of uncles, mothers, or wives could have done. 'Do you
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates by Howard Pyle: and then, still full of anxieties for he knew not what, went into
his cabin to finish writing up his log for the day. He
unstrapped his cutlass and laid it upon the table, lighted his
pipe at the lanthorn and was about preparing to lay aside his
coat when word was brought to him that the captain of the trading
schooner was come alongside and had some private information to
communicate to him.
Mainwaring surmised in an instant that the trader's visit related
somehow to news of Captain Scarfield, and as immediately, in the
relief of something positive to face, all of his feeling of
restlessness vanished like a shadow of mist. He gave orders that
Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Republic by Plato: study.
And to men like him, I said, when perfected by years and education, and to
these only you will entrust the State.
Here Adeimantus interposed and said: To these statements, Socrates, no one
can offer a reply; but when you talk in this way, a strange feeling passes
over the minds of your hearers: They fancy that they are led astray a
little at each step in the argument, owing to their own want of skill in
asking and answering questions; these littles accumulate, and at the end of
the discussion they are found to have sustained a mighty overthrow and all
their former notions appear to be turned upside down. And as unskilful
players of draughts are at last shut up by their more skilful adversaries
The Republic |