| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The United States Constitution: Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand,
but each State shall have at least one Representative;
and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire
shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island
and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six,
New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six,
Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive
Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers;
and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
The United States Constitution |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from A Straight Deal by Owen Wister: understanding of what he has misunderstood heretofore!
No anecdotes that I can find (though I am sure that they are to be found)
will illustrate one difference between the two peoples, very noticeable
to-day. It is increasing. An Englishman not only sticks closer than a
brother to his own rights, he respects the rights of his neighbor just as
strictly. We Americans are losing our grip on this. It is the bottom of
the whole thing. It is the moral keystone of democracy. Howsoever we may
talk about our own rights to-day, we pay less and less respect to those
of our neighbors. The result is that to-day there is more liberty in
England than here. Liberty consists and depends upon respecting your
neighbor's rights every bit as fairly and squarely as your own.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Walden by Henry David Thoreau: keep sober always; and there are infinite degrees of drunkenness. I
believe that water is the only drink for a wise man; wine is not so
noble a liquor; and think of dashing the hopes of a morning with a
cup of warm coffee, or of an evening with a dish of tea! Ah, how
low I fall when I am tempted by them! Even music may be
intoxicating. Such apparently slight causes destroyed Greece and
Rome, and will destroy England and America. Of all ebriosity, who
does not prefer to be intoxicated by the air he breathes? I have
found it to be the most serious objection to coarse labors long
continued, that they compelled me to eat and drink coarsely also.
But to tell the truth, I find myself at present somewhat less
Walden |
