| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Phaedrus by Plato: not the extravagance of an erring fancy, but the concentration of reason in
feeling, the enthusiastic love of the good, the true, the one, the sense of
the infinity of knowledge and of the marvel of the human faculties. When
feeding upon such thoughts the 'wing of the soul' is renewed and gains
strength; she is raised above 'the manikins of earth' and their opinions,
waiting in wonder to know, and working with reverence to find out what God
in this or in another life may reveal to her.
ON THE DECLINE OF GREEK LITERATURE.
One of the main purposes of Plato in the Phaedrus is to satirize Rhetoric,
or rather the Professors of Rhetoric who swarmed at Athens in the fourth
century before Christ. As in the opening of the Dialogue he ridicules the
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Concerning Christian Liberty by Martin Luther: for you and for your see. But those who have hitherto endeavoured
to terrify me with the majesty of your name and authority, I have
begun quite to despise and triumph over. One thing I see
remaining which I cannot despise, and this has been the reason of
my writing anew to your Blessedness: namely, that I find that
blame is cast on me, and that it is imputed to me as a great
offence, that in my rashness I am judged to have spared not even
your person.
Now, to confess the truth openly, I am conscious that, whenever I
have had to mention your person, I have said nothing of you but
what was honourable and good. If I had done otherwise, I could by
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Amazing Interlude by Mary Roberts Rinehart: the war, and that had brought him that peace of God that passeth all
understanding.
It was not a good time for Belle to put up to him her suggestion for a
delay in the marriage, that evening after their return. He took it
badly and insisted on sending upstairs for Sara Lee.
"Did you ask Belle to do this?" he demanded bluntly.
"To do what?"
"To put things off."
"I have already told you, Harvey," Belle put in. "It is my own idea.
She is tired. She's been through a lot. I've heard the story you're
too stubborn to listen to. And I strongly advise her to wait a while."
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