| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Salammbo by Gustave Flaubert: causeway across it.
He was now on the left bank in front of Utica, and in a vast plain,
the latter being advantageous for his elephants, which formed the
strength of his army.
This feat of genius filled the soldiers with enthusiasm. They
recovered extraordinary confidence. They wished to hasten immediately
against the Barbarians; but the Suffet bade them rest for two hours.
As soon as the sun appeared they moved into the plain in three lines--
first came the elephants, and then the light infantry with the cavalry
behind it, the phalanx marching next.
The Barbarians encamped at Utica, and the fifteen thousand about the
Salammbo |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from What is Man? by Mark Twain: and idiotic effort to attract the attention of visitors; boys are
always "showing off"; apparently all men and women are glad and
grateful when they find that they have done a thing which has
lifted them for a moment out of obscurity and caused wondering
talk. This common madness can develop, by nurture, into a hunger
for notoriety in one, for fame in another. It is this madness
for being noticed and talked about which has invented kingship
and the thousand other dignities, and tricked them out with
pretty and showy fineries; it has made kings pick one another's
pockets, scramble for one another's crowns and estates, slaughter
one another's subjects; it has raised up prize-fighters, and
What is Man? |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Aesop's Fables by Aesop: to rise and lick the hand of Androcles like a dog. Then the Lion
took Androcles to his cave, and every day used to bring him meat
from which to live. But shortly afterwards both Androcles and the
Lion were captured, and the slave was sentenced to be thrown to
the Lion, after the latter had been kept without food for several
days. The Emperor and all his Court came to see the spectacle,
and Androcles was led out into the middle of the arena. Soon the
Lion was let loose from his den, and rushed bounding and roaring
towards his victim. But as soon as he came near to Androcles he
recognised his friend, and fawned upon him, and licked his hands
like a friendly dog. The Emperor, surprised at this, summoned
Aesop's Fables |
