| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Within the Tides by Joseph Conrad: 'Won't you join us in a quiet game, Captain?'
"Davidson said that now the child was better he thought he would go
on board and turn in. Fector was the only one of the four whom he
had, so to speak, never seen, for he had had a good look at the
Frenchman already. He observed Fector's muddy eyes, his mean,
bitter mouth. Davidson's contempt for those men rose in his gorge,
while his placid smile, his gentle tones and general air of
innocence put heart into them. They exchanged meaning glances.
"'We shall be sitting late over the cards,' Fector said in his
harsh, low voice.
"'Don't make more noise than you can help.'
Within the Tides |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Animal Farm by George Orwell: he said, contained the essential principle of Animalism. Whoever had
thoroughly grasped it would be safe from human influences. The birds at
first objected, since it seemed to them that they also had two legs, but
Snowball proved to them that this was not so.
"A bird's wing, comrades," he said, "is an organ of propulsion and not of
manipulation. It should therefore be regarded as a leg. The distinguishing
mark of man is the HAND, the instrument with which he does all his
mischief."
The birds did not understand Snowball's long words, but they accepted his
explanation, and all the humbler animals set to work to learn the new
maxim by heart. FOUR LEGS GOOD, TWO LEGS BAD, was inscribed on the end
Animal Farm |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from 'Twixt Land & Sea by Joseph Conrad: revert here to what happened a week or two before. The medical
officer of the port had come on board my ship to have a look at one
of my crew who was ailing, and naturally enough he was asked to
step into the cabin. A fellow-shipmaster of mine was there too;
and in the conversation, somehow or other, the name of Jacobus came
to be mentioned. It was pronounced with no particular reverence by
the other man, I believe. I don't remember now what I was going to
say. The doctor - a pleasant, cultivated fellow, with an assured
manner - prevented me by striking in, in a sour tone:
"Ah! You're talking about my respected papa-in-law."
Of course, that sally silenced us at the time. But I remembered
'Twixt Land & Sea |
