| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from 1984 by George Orwell: your death for as much as five minutes. Neither of us will even know
whether the other is alive or dead. We shall be utterly without power of
any kind. The one thing that matters is that we shouldn't betray one
another, although even that can't make the slightest difference.'
'If you mean confessing,' she said, 'we shall do that, right enough.
Everybody always confesses. You can't help it. They torture you.'
'I don't mean confessing. Confession is not betrayal. What you say or do
doesn't matter: only feelings matter. If they could make me stop loving
you--that would be the real betrayal.'
She thought it over. 'They can't do that,' she said finally. 'It's the one
thing they can't do. They can make you say anything--ANYTHING--but they
1984 |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Gorgias by Plato: Cimon, Themistocles, Miltiades. But the charioteer who keeps his seat at
first is not thrown out when he gains greater experience and skill. The
inference is, that the statesman of a past age were no better than those of
our own. They may have been cleverer constructors of docks and harbours,
but they did not improve the character of the citizens. I have told you
again and again (and I purposely use the same images) that the soul, like
the body, may be treated in two ways--there is the meaner and the higher
art. You seemed to understand what I said at the time, but when I ask you
who were the really good statesmen, you answer--as if I asked you who were
the good trainers, and you answered, Thearion, the baker, Mithoecus, the
author of the Sicilian cookery-book, Sarambus, the vintner. And you would
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin by Robert Louis Stevenson: relieved me, was unwell, so I had to continue my look-out; and
about one o'clock the line again parted, but was again caught in
the last noose, with about four inches to spare. Five minutes
afterwards it again parted and was yet once more caught. Mr.
Liddell (whom I had called) could stand this no longer; so we
buoyed the line and ran into a bay in Siphano, waiting for calm
weather, though I was by no means of opinion that the slight sea
and wind had been the cause of our failures. - All next day
(Monday) we lay off Siphano, amusing ourselves on shore with
fowling pieces and navy revolvers. I need not say we killed
nothing; and luckily we did not wound any of ourselves. A
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