| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Hellenica by Xenophon: Heaven has in store for us,"--adding, "never will we submit to be
deprived of our territory of Messene, which we received as an heirloom
from our fathers."[6]
[6] See Isocr. "Or." vi. "Archidamos," S. 70; Jebb, "Att. Or." ii.
193.
Satisfied with this answer, the Corinthians set off to Thebes in quest
of peace. The Thebans, indeed, asked them to agree on oath, not to
peace only but an alliance; to which they answered: "An alliance
meant, not peace, but merely an exchange of war. If they liked, they
were ready there and then," they repeated, "to establish a just and
equitable peace." And the Thebans, admiring the manner in which,
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson by Robert Louis Stevenson: was away in Apemama, I wrote two copies of verse about Edinburgh
and the past, so ink black, so golden bright. I will send them, if
I can find them, for they will say something to you, and indeed one
is more than half addressed to you. This is it -
TO MY OLD COMRADES
Do you remember - can we e'er forget? -
How, in the coiled perplexities of youth,
In our wild climate, in our scowling town,
We gloomed and shivered, sorrowed, sobbed, and feared?
The belching winter wind, the missile rain,
The rare and welcome silence of the snows,
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from End of the Tether by Joseph Conrad: the whole file in a sort of sustained rush; the features
of the occupant whirling out of sight left behind an
impression of fixed stares and impassive vacancy; and
after it had vanished in full flight as it were, notwith-
standing the long line of vehicles hugging the curb at
a walk, the whole lofty vista of the avenue seemed to lie
open and emptied of life in the enlarged impression of
an august solitude.
Captain Whalley had lifted his head to look, and his
mind, disturbed in its meditation, turned with wonder
(as men's minds will do) to matters of no importance.
 End of the Tether |