| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Master of the World by Jules Verne: of the eddies grew stronger, and in a few moments the boat touched
the quay.
This word "quay," only used in that region, exactly describes the
spot. The rocks at our feet formed a level, five or six feet above
the water, and descending to it perpendicularly, exactly like a
landing wharf.
"We must not stop here," whispered Wells, seizing me by the arm.
"No," I answered, "they might see us. We must lie crouched upon the
beach! Or we might hide in some crevice of the rocks."
"We will follow you."
There was not a moment to lose. The dark mass was now close at hand,
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: though my mate was much mistaken in his calculation of their
number, yet when they came up we reckoned about a hundred and
twenty-six canoes; some of them had sixteen or seventeen men in
them, and some more, and the least six or seven. When they came
nearer to us, they seemed to be struck with wonder and
astonishment, as at a sight which doubtless they had never seen
before; nor could they at first, as we afterwards understood, know
what to make of us; they came boldly up, however, very near to us,
and seemed to go about to row round us; but we called to our men in
the boats not to let them come too near them. This very order
brought us to an engagement with them, without our designing it;
Robinson Crusoe |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Critias by Plato: the most fertile in the world, and abounded in rich plains and pastures.
But in the course of ages much of the soil was washed away and disappeared
in the deep sea. And the inhabitants of this fair land were endowed with
intelligence and the love of beauty.
The Acropolis of the ancient Athens extended to the Ilissus and Eridanus,
and included the Pnyx, and the Lycabettus on the opposite side to the Pnyx,
having a level surface and deep soil. The side of the hill was inhabited
by craftsmen and husbandmen; and the warriors dwelt by themselves on the
summit, around the temples of Hephaestus and Athene, in an enclosure which
was like the garden of a single house. In winter they retired into houses
on the north of the hill, in which they held their syssitia. These were
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