| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Cromwell by William Shakespeare: But you must live, I know, as well as I:
I know this place to be extortion,
And tis not for a man to keep him,
But he must lie, cog with his dearest friend,
And as for pity, scorn it, hate all conscience.
But yet I do commend your wit in this,
To make a show of what I hope you are not;
But I commend you and tis well done:
This is the only way to bring your gain.
CROMWELL.
My gain! I had rather chain me to an oar,
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Golden Sayings of Epictetus by Epictetus: heaven I may never have a wise fool for my friend! There is
nothing more intractable.--"My resolve is fixed!"--Why so madman
say too; but the more firmly they believe in their delusions, the
more they stand in need of treatment.
LXX
--"O! when shall I see Athens and its Acropolis again?"--
Miserable man! art thou not contented with the daily sights that
meet thine eyes? canst thou behold aught greater or nobler than
the Sun, Moon, and Stars; than the outspread Earth and Sea? If
indeed thous apprehendest Him who administers the universe, if
thou bearest Him about within thee, canst thou still hanker after
The Golden Sayings of Epictetus |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Message by Honore de Balzac: eyes shone with a feverish glitter, a faint ray of happiness
gleamed out of her terrible suffering, as she grasped my hands in
hers, and said, in a choking voice:
"Ah! you love! May you be happy always. May you never lose her
whom you love."
She broke off, and fled away with her treasure.
Next morning, this night-scene among my dreams seemed like a
dream; to make sure of the piteous truth, I was obliged to look
fruitlessly under my pillow for the packet of letters. There is
no need to tell you how the next day went. I spent several hours
of it with the Juliette whom my poor comrade had so praised to
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