| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Silverado Squatters by Robert Louis Stevenson: Mr. Chapman's were the only speaking relics that we
disinterred from all that vast Silverado rubbish-heap; but
what would I not have given to unearth a letter, a pocket-
book, a diary, only a ledger, or a roll of names, to take me
back, in a more personal manner, to the past? It pleases me,
besides, to fancy that Stanley or Chapman, or one of their
companions, may light upon this chronicle, and be struck by
the name, and read some news of their anterior home, coming,
as it were, out of a subsequent epoch of history in that
quarter of the world.
As we were tumbling the mingled rubbish on the floor, kicking
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau: encourage its citizens to put out its faults, and do better than
it would have them? Why does it always crucify Christ and
excommunicate Copernicus and Luther, and pronounce Washington
and Franklin rebels?
One would think, that a deliberate and practical denial
of its authority was the only offense never contemplated by
its government; else, why has it not assigned its definite,
its suitable and proportionate, penalty? If a man who has
no property refuses but once to earn nine shillings for the
State, he is put in prison for a period unlimited by any law
that I know, and determined only by the discretion of those
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Bucky O'Connor by William MacLeod Raine: who gave way to every impulse, she yielded to one now, and shook
hands with him. Their eyes met for a moment and he knew she was
thanking him.
An eye derisive witnessed the handshake. "An alliance against the
teeth of the wolf, I'll bet. Good mo'ning, Miss Mackenzie,"
drawled Leroy.
"Good morning," she answered quietly, her hands behind her.
"Sleep well?"
"Would you expect me to?"
"Why not, with York here doing the virgin-knight act outside your
door?"
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