| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln by Helen Nicolay: to Congress; and bringing the discussion back, time and again, to
the three points absolutely necessary to secure peace-- Union,
freedom for the slaves, and complete disbandment of the
Confederate armies. He had gone to offer them, honestly and
frankly, the best terms in his power, but not to give up one atom
of official dignity or duty. Their main thought, on the contrary,
had been to postpone or to escape the express conditions on which
they were admitted to the conference.
They returned to Richmond and reported the failure of their
efforts to Jefferson Davis, whose disappointment equalled their
own, for all had caught eagerly at the hope that this interview
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Bucky O'Connor by William MacLeod Raine: She had stung his consent at last. "Very well," he said, and
opened the door to let her pass into the inner room.
But she noticed that his eyes were hard as jade.
"Don't you see that he came here to save me?" she cried, when
they were alone. "Don't you see it was for me? He didn't come to
spy out your place of hiding."
"I see that he has found it. If I let him go, he will bring back
a posse to take us."
"You could ride across the line into Mexico."
"I could, but I won't."
"But why?"
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Democracy In America, Volume 1 by Alexis de Toqueville: educate the democracy; to warm its faith, if that be possible; to
purify its morals; to direct its energies; to substitute a
knowledge of business for its inexperience, and an acquaintance
with its true interests for its blind propensities; to adapt its
government to time and place, and to modify it in compliance with
the occurrences and the actors of the age. A new science of
politics is indispensable to a new world. This, however, is what
we think of least; launched in the middle of a rapid stream, we
obstinately fix our eyes on the ruins which may still be
described upon the shore we have left, whilst the current sweeps
us along, and drives us backwards towards the gulf.
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