| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Ion by Plato: man will judge of his own particular art better than the rhapsode. He
still maintains, however, that he understands the art of the general as
well as any one. 'Then why in this city of Athens, in which men of merit
are always being sought after, is he not at once appointed a general?' Ion
replies that he is a foreigner, and the Athenians and Spartans will not
appoint a foreigner to be their general. 'No, that is not the real reason;
there are many examples to the contrary. But Ion has long been playing
tricks with the argument; like Proteus, he transforms himself into a
variety of shapes, and is at last about to run away in the disguise of a
general. Would he rather be regarded as inspired or dishonest?' Ion, who
has no suspicion of the irony of Socrates, eagerly embraces the alternative
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Lock and Key Library by Julian Hawthorne, Ed.: waft some sparks to the parched combustible herbage immediately
around us, we were saved from the fire, and our work might yet be
achieved.
I whispered to Ayesha the conclusion to which I came.
"Thinkest thou," she answered without raising her mournful head,
"that the Agencies of Nature are the movements of chance? The
Spirits I invoked to his aid are leagued with the hosts that
assail. A mightier than I am has doomed him!"
Scarcely had she uttered these words before Margrave exclaimed,
"Behold how the Rose of the alchemist's dream enlarges its blooms
from the folds of its petals! I shall live, I shall live!"
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Master and Man by Leo Tolstoy: seat and started the impatient horse over the frozen manure
which lay in the yard, towards the gate.
'Uncle Nikita! I say, Uncle, Uncle!' a high-pitched voice
shouted, and a seven-year-old boy in a black sheepskin coat,
new white felt boots, and a warm cap, ran hurriedly out of the
house into the yard. 'Take me with you!' he cried, fastening
up his coat as he ran.
'All right, come along, darling!' said Nikita, and stopping the
sledge he picked up the master's pale thin little son, radiant
with joy, and drove out into the road.
It was past two o'clock and the day was windy, dull, and cold,
Master and Man |
