| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Alexandria and her Schools by Charles Kingsley: him the wise men of the world (glad enough most of them to leave that
miserable Greece, where every man's life was in his hand from hour to
hour), and he would develop to its highest the conception of Philip,
when he made Aristotle the tutor of his son Alexander. The consequences
of that attempt were written in letters of blood, over half the world;
Ptolemy would attempt it once more, with gentler results. For though he
fought long, and often, and well, as Despot of Egypt, no less than as
general of Alexander, he was not at heart a man of blood, and made peace
the end of all his wars.
So he begins. Aristotle is gone: but in Aristotle's place Philetas the
sweet singer of Cos, and Zenodotus the grammarian of Ephesus, shall
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift: is necessary for preserving flesh in long voyages, or in places
remote from great markets; for we observe no animal to be fond of
it but man, and as to myself, when I left this country, it was a
great while before I could endure the taste of it in anything
that I ate.
This is enough to say upon the subject of my diet, wherewith
other travellers fill their books, as if the readers were
personally concerned whether we fare well or ill. However, it
was necessary to mention this matter, lest the world should think
it impossible that I could find sustenance for three years in
such a country, and among such inhabitants.
Gulliver's Travels |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Phaedo by Plato: Do not lose heart, replied Socrates, and the day may come when you will
understand. I suppose that you wonder why, when other things which are
evil may be good at certain times and to certain persons, death is to be
the only exception, and why, when a man is better dead, he is not permitted
to be his own benefactor, but must wait for the hand of another.
Very true, said Cebes, laughing gently and speaking in his native Boeotian.
I admit the appearance of inconsistency in what I am saying; but there may
not be any real inconsistency after all. There is a doctrine whispered in
secret that man is a prisoner who has no right to open the door and run
away; this is a great mystery which I do not quite understand. Yet I too
believe that the gods are our guardians, and that we are a possession of
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