| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas: "This is it, sire. -- When I was setting out on my first
campaign, that is to say, to join the army of monsieur le
prince, M. le Comte de la Fere came to conduct me as far as
Saint-Denis, where the remains of King Louis XIII. wait,
upon the lowest steps of the funeral basilique, a successor,
whom God will not send him, I hope, for many years. Then he
made me swear upon the ashes of our masters, to serve
royalty, represented by you -- incarnate in you, sire -- to
serve it in word, in thought, and in action. I swore, and
God and the dead were witnesses to my oath. During ten
years, sire, I have not so often as I desired had occasion
 Ten Years Later |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Master and Man by Leo Tolstoy: with a smile:
'Storms with mist the sky conceal,
Snowy circles wheeling wild.
Now like savage beast 'twill howl,
And now 'tis wailing like a child.'
Nikita nodded approvingly as he arranged the reins.
The old man, seeing Vasili Andreevich off, brought a lantern
into the passage to show him a light, but it was blown out at
once. And even in the yard it was evident that the snowstorm
had become more violent.
'Well, this is weather!' thought Vasili Andreevich. 'Perhaps
 Master and Man |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy: smile, and then burst into tears.
From that day Alyosha went about his work as
usual, and no longer talked to Ustinia about their
getting married. One day in Lent the clerk told
him to clear the snow from the roof. Alyosha
climbed on to the roof and swept away all the
snow; and, while he was still raking out some
frozen lumps from the gutter, his foot slipped and
he fell over. Unfortunately he did not fall on the
snow, but on a piece of iron over the door. Us-
tinia came running up, together with the mer-
 The Forged Coupon |