| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Sons of the Soil by Honore de Balzac: country! that is only a woodpecker tapping a tree. I dare say you
don't even know the most curious fact in the history of that bird. As
soon as he has given his tap, and he gives millions to pierce an oak,
he flies behind the tree to see if he is yet through it; and he does
this every instant."
"The noise I heard, dear instructress of natural history, was not a
noise made by an animal; there was evidence of mind in it, and that
proclaims a man."
The countess was seized with panic, and she darted back through the
wild flower-garden, seeking the path by which to leave the forest.
"What is the matter?" cried Blondet, rushing after her.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin: vertebrata possessed many vertebrae; the unknown progenitor of the
articulata, many segments; and the unknown progenitor of flowering plants,
many spiral whorls of leaves. We have formerly seen that parts many times
repeated are eminently liable to vary in number and structure; consequently
it is quite probable that natural selection, during a long-continued course
of modification, should have seized on a certain number of the primordially
similar elements, many times repeated, and have adapted them to the most
diverse purposes. And as the whole amount of modification will have been
effected by slight successive steps, we need not wonder at discovering in
such parts or organs, a certain degree of fundamental resemblance, retained
by the strong principle of inheritance.
On the Origin of Species |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Master Key by L. Frank Baum: height. He turned the indicator towards the south, where a level
space appeared between the trees; but instead of taking that direction
he moved towards the northeast, a proof that his machine had now become
absolutely unreliable. Moreover, he was slowly approaching the fire,
which, although it had ceased blazing, was a mass of glowing red embers.
In his excitement he turned the indicator this way and that, trying to
change the direction of his flight, but the only result of his
endeavor was to carry him directly over the fire, where he came to a
full stop.
"Murder! Help! Fire and blazes!" he cried, as he felt the glow of
the coals beneath him. "I'll be roasted, after all! Here; help,
The Master Key |
