| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Gobseck by Honore de Balzac: such training ought to live as long as the cedars of Lebanon, and
famous trees they are.'
" 'Then is the Count actually dying?' I asked.
" 'That is possible,' said Gobseck; 'the winding up of his estate will
be a juicy bit of business for you.'
"I looked at my man, and said, by way of sounding him:
" 'Just explain to me how it is that we, the Count and I, are the only
men in whom you take an interest?'
" 'Because you are the only two who have trusted me without
finessing,' he said.
"Although this answer warranted my belief that Gobseck would act
Gobseck |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Republic by Plato: quite content.
I too, I replied, shall be extremely well satisfied.
Then faint not in pursuing the speculation, he said.
Must we not acknowledge, I said, that in each of us there are the same
principles and habits which there are in the State; and that from the
individual they pass into the State?--how else can they come there? Take
the quality of passion or spirit;--it would be ridiculous to imagine that
this quality, when found in States, is not derived from the individuals who
are supposed to possess it, e.g. the Thracians, Scythians, and in general
the northern nations; and the same may be said of the love of knowledge,
which is the special characteristic of our part of the world, or of the
The Republic |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Koran: killed him. And he (Moses) said, 'Hast thou killed a pure person
without (his killing) a person? thou hast produced an unheard-of
thing.'
Said he, 'Did I not tell thee, verily, thou canst not have
patience with me?'
Said he, 'If I ask thee about anything after it, then do not
accompany me. Now hast thou arrived at my excuse.' So they set out
until when they came to the people of a city; and they asked the
people thereof for food; but they refused to entertain them. And
they found therein a wall which wanted to fall to pieces, and he set
it upright. Said (Moses), 'Hadst thou pleased thou mightst certainly
The Koran |
