| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Symposium by Plato: sweet, moist and dry, and the like. And my ancestor, Asclepius, knowing
how to implant friendship and accord in these elements, was the creator of
our art, as our friends the poets here tell us, and I believe them; and not
only medicine in every branch but the arts of gymnastic and husbandry are
under his dominion. Any one who pays the least attention to the subject
will also perceive that in music there is the same reconciliation of
opposites; and I suppose that this must have been the meaning of
Heracleitus, although his words are not accurate; for he says that The One
is united by disunion, like the harmony of the bow and the lyre. Now there
is an absurdity saying that harmony is discord or is composed of elements
which are still in a state of discord. But what he probably meant was,
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Mother by Owen Wister: thoughtfully at various objects in the room, while the small-talk was
subsiding around him.
"Why, Mr. Field," said Mrs. Davenport, "you look as if you could find
nothing to suggest your story to you."
"On the contrary," said Richard, "it is the number of things that suggest
it. This newspaper here, that has arrived since I was last in the room,
has a column which reminds me very forcibly of the experience that I have
selected to tell you. But I think the most appropriate of all is that
picture." He pointed to the largest picture on the wall. "'Breaking Home
Ties' is its title, I remember very well. It is a replica of the original
that drew such crowds in the Art Building at the World's Fair."
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Atheist's Mass by Honore de Balzac: the repose of its soul. His dog, said he, had been a good
Christian, who for twelve years had accompanied him to church,
never barking, listening to the organ without opening his mouth,
and crouching beside him in a way that made it seem as though he
were praying too.
"This man centered all his affections in me; he looked upon me as
a forlorn and suffering creature, and he became, to me, the most
thoughtful mother, the most considerate benefactor, the ideal of
the virtue which rejoices in its own work. When I met him in the
street, he would throw me a glance of intelligence full of
unutterable dignity; he would affect to walk as though he carried
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