| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Apology by Xenophon: adept in respect of the greatest treasure men possess--education, I am
on that account to be prosecuted by you, sir, on the capital charge?"
Much more than this, it stands to reason, was urged, whether by
himself or by the friends who advocated his cause.[40] But my object
has not been to mention everything that arose out of the suit. It
suffices me to have shown on the one hand that Socrates, beyond
everything, desired not to display impiety to heaven,[41] and
injustice to men; and on the other, that escape from death was not a
thing, in his opinion, to be clamoured for importunately--on the
contrary, he believed that the time was already come for him to die.
That such was the conclusion to which he had come was made still more
The Apology |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from A Second Home by Honore de Balzac: regret at her want of success, that Granville, who was very much in
love, regarded her disappointment as a proof of her affection instead
of resentment for an offence to her self-conceit. After all, could he
expect a girl just snatched from the humdrum of country notions, with
no experience of the niceties and grace of Paris life, to know or do
any better? Rather would he believe that his wife's choice had been
overruled by the tradesmen than allow himself to own the truth. If he
had been less in love, he would have understood that the dealers,
always quick to discern their customers' ideas, had blessed Heaven for
sending them a tasteless little bigot, who would take their old-
fashioned goods off their hands. So he comforted the pretty
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Moby Dick by Herman Melville: pressure of water at a great distance below the surface, his life may
be said to pour from him in incessant streams. Yet so vast is the
quantity of blood in him, and so distant and numerous its interior
fountains, that he will keep thus bleeding and bleeding for a
considerable period; even as in a drought a river will flow, whose
source is in the well-springs of far-off and undiscernible hills.
Even now, when the boats pulled upon this whale, and perilously drew
over his swaying flukes, and the lances were darted into him, they
were followed by steady jets from the new made wound, which kept
continually playing, while the natural spout-hole in his head was
only at intervals, however rapid, sending its affrighted moisture
Moby Dick |
