| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Symposium by Plato: the eye of the mind, and will bring forth true creations of virtue and
wisdom, and be the friend of God and heir of immortality.
Such, Phaedrus, is the tale which I heard from the stranger of Mantinea,
and which you may call the encomium of love, or what you please.
The company applaud the speech of Socrates, and Aristophanes is about to
say something, when suddenly a band of revellers breaks into the court, and
the voice of Alcibiades is heard asking for Agathon. He is led in drunk,
and welcomed by Agathon, whom he has come to crown with a garland. He is
placed on a couch at his side, but suddenly, on recognizing Socrates, he
starts up, and a sort of conflict is carried on between them, which Agathon
is requested to appease. Alcibiades then insists that they shall drink,
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Twice Told Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: before them, the Puritans early endeavored to banish, and to
prevent the further intrusion of the rising sect. But the
measures by which it was intended to purge the land of heresy,
though more than sufficiently vigorous, were entirely
unsuccessful. The Quakers, esteeming persecution as a divine call
to the post of danger, laid claim to a holy courage, unknown to
the Puritans themselves, who had shunned the cross, by providing
for the peaceable exercise of their religion in a distant
wilderness. Though it was the singular fact, that every nation of
the earth rejected the wandering enthusiasts who practised peace
towards all men, the place of greatest uneasiness and peril, and
Twice Told Tales |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Alexander's Bridge by Willa Cather: The Piccadilly Restaurant? The music's good there."
"There are too many people there whom
one knows. Why not that little French place
in Soho, where we went so often when you
were here in the summer? I love it,
and I've never been there with any one but you.
Sometimes I go by myself, when I am particularly lonely."
"Very well, the sole's good there.
How many street pianos there are about to-night!
The fine weather must have thawed them out.
We've had five miles of `Il Trovatore' now.
Alexander's Bridge |
