| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Gentle Grafter by O. Henry: society by poisoning the springs of rectitude with their upas-like
eye," said Jeff, with the pure gleam of the muck-raker in his own.
"As I said, three months ago I got into bad company. There are two
times in a man's life when he does this--when he's dead broke, and
when he's rich.
"Now and then the most legitimate business runs out of luck. It was
out in Arkansas I made the wrong turn at a cross-road, and drives into
this town of Peavine by mistake. It seems I had already assaulted and
disfigured Peavine the spring of the year before. I had sold $600
worth of young fruit trees there--plums, cherries, peaches and pears.
The Peaviners were keeping an eye on the country road and hoping I
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Democracy In America, Volume 1 by Alexis de Toqueville: be granted to public officers, for they would be of no use
without it. But the ostensible semblance of authority is by no
means indispensable to the conduct of affairs, and it is
needlessly offensive to the susceptibility of the public. The
public officers themselves are well aware that they only enjoy
the superiority over their fellow-citizens which they derive from
their authority upon condition of putting themselves on a level
with the whole community by their manners. A public officer in
the United States is uniformly civil, accessible to all the
world, attentive to all requests, and obliging in his replies. I
was pleased by these characteristics of a democratic government;
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Two Brothers by Honore de Balzac: house, you would go and tell Monsieur Maxence what has happened, and
warn him to be on his guard. No, no, my little men. I shall keep my
eye on you, and I have means of knowing what you do. As you behave, so
shall I behave to you. It will be by a long course of good conduct,
not that of a day or a month, but of years, that I shall judge you. I
am strong on my legs, my eyes are good, my health is sound; I hope to
live long enough to see what road you take. Your first move will be to
Paris, where you will study banking under Messieurs Mongenod and Sons.
Ill-luck to you if you don't walk straight; you will be watched. Your
property is in the hand of Messieurs Mongenod; here is a cheque for
the amount. Now then, release me as guardian, and sign the accounts,
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