| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Second Inaugural Address by Abraham Lincoln: The Almighty has his own purposes. "Woe unto the world because
of offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe
to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose
that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the
providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued
through his appointed time, he now wills to remove, and that he
gives to both North and South this terrible war, as the woe due
to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any
departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a
living God always ascribe to him? Fondly do we hope--fervently
do we pray--that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away.
Second Inaugural Address |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories by Alice Dunbar: supper had sounded twice before they heard and hurried into the
house. The march had formed with Louise radiantly leading on the
arm of papa. Claralie tripped by with Leon. Of course, nothing
remained for Theophile and Manuela to do but to bring up the
rear, for which they received much good-natured chaffing.
But when the party reached the dining-room, Theophile proudly led
his partner to the head of the table, at the right hand of maman,
and smiled benignly about at the delighted assemblage. Now you
know, when a Creole young man places a girl at his mother's right
hand at his own table, there is but one conclusion to be deduced
therefrom.
The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, etc. by Oscar Wilde: fearful fortune in the scales? The marriage must be postponed, at
all costs. Of this he was quite resolved. Ardently though he
loved the girl, and the mere touch of her fingers, when they sat
together, made each nerve of his body thrill with exquisite joy, he
recognised none the less clearly where his duty lay, and was fully
conscious of the fact that he had no right to marry until he had
committed the murder. This done, he could stand before the altar
with Sybil Merton, and give his life into her hands without terror
of wrongdoing. This done, he could take her to his arms, knowing
that she would never have to blush for him, never have to hang her
head in shame. But done it must be first; and the sooner the
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