The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Scenes from a Courtesan's Life by Honore de Balzac: impassioned, and even idlers are preoccupied.
The young dandy was so much absorbed in his anxious quest that he did
not observe his own success; he did not hear, he did not see the
ironical exclamations of admiration, the genuine appreciation, the
biting gibes, the soft invitations of some of the masks. Though he was
so handsome as to rank among those exceptional persons who come to an
opera ball in search of an adventure, and who expect it as confidently
as men looked for a lucky coup at roulette in Frascati's day, he
seemed quite philosophically sure of his evening; he must be the hero
of one of those mysteries with three actors which constitute an opera
ball, and are known only to those who play a part in them; for, to
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Emma McChesney & Co. by Edna Ferber: our own."
"That's just it. When a doctor issues a bulletin to the effect
that the patient is holding his own, you may have noticed that
the relatives always begin to gather."
"It's a bubble, this South American idea. Oshkosh and Southport
and Altoona money has always been good enough for us. If we can
keep that trade, we ought to be thankful."
Emma McChesney pushed her hair back from her forehead with one
gesture and patted it into place with another. Those two
gestures, to one who knew her, meant loss of composure for one
instant, followed by the quick regaining of it the next.
Emma McChesney & Co. |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Merry Men by Robert Louis Stevenson: o' darkness; but Mr. Soulis was strong in the Lord. He turned an'
gaed his ways oot o' that room, and lockit the door ahint him; and
step by step, doon the stairs, as heavy as leed; and set doon the
can'le on the table at the stairfoot. He couldnae pray, he
couldnae think, he was dreepin' wi' caul' swat, an' naething could
he hear but the dunt-dunt-duntin' o' his ain heart. He micht maybe
have stood there an hour, or maybe twa, he minded sae little; when
a' o' a sudden, he heard a laigh, uncanny steer upstairs; a foot
gaed to an' fro in the cha'mer whaur the corp was hingin'; syne the
door was opened, though he minded weel that he had lockit it; an'
syne there was a step upon the landin', an' it seemed to him as if
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