| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: appearance of a concerted plan. The Spider comes and goes
impetuously, as though at random; she goes up, comes down, goes up
again, dives down again and each time strengthens the points of
contact with intricate moorings distributed here and there. The
result is a scanty and disordered scaffolding.
Is disordered the word? Perhaps not. The Epeira's eye, more
experienced in matters of this sort than mine, has recognized the
general lie of the land; and the rope-fabric has been erected
accordingly: it is very inaccurate in my opinion, but very
suitable for the Spider's designs. What is it that she really
wants? A solid frame to contain the network of the web. The
The Life of the Spider |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Crisis in Russia by Arthur Ransome: idle for any one to say to himself that by following any given
line of conduct he will avoid molestation. Also, there is
something in the Russian character which makes any
prohibition of discussion almost an invitation to discuss. I
have never met a Russian who could be prevented from
saying whatever he liked whenever he liked, by any threats
or dangers whatsoever. The only way to prevent a Russian
from talking is to cut out his tongue. The real reason for the
apathy is that, for the moment, for almost everybody
political questions are of infinitesimal importance in
comparison with questions of food and warmth. The
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Lesser Hippias by Plato: those who do wrong involuntarily are worse than those who do wrong
voluntarily, and therefore I hope that you will be good to me, and not
refuse to heal me; for you will do me a much greater benefit if you cure my
soul of ignorance, than you would if you were to cure my body of disease.
I must, however, tell you beforehand, that if you make a long oration to me
you will not cure me, for I shall not be able to follow you; but if you
will answer me, as you did just now, you will do me a great deal of good,
and I do not think that you will be any the worse yourself. And I have
some claim upon you also, O son of Apemantus, for you incited me to
converse with Hippias; and now, if Hippias will not answer me, you must
entreat him on my behalf.
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