| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Two Brothers by Honore de Balzac: another Philippe, but of a different calibre. The scoundrel makes
his vices serve his fortunes, and gets his amusement gratis;
whereas your brother's follies are never useful to him. All that
you say alarms me, but I could do no good by going to Issoudun.
Monsieur Hochon, acting behind your mother, will be more useful to
you than I. As for you, you had better come back here; you are
good for nothing in a matter which requires continual attention,
careful observation, servile civilities, discretion in speech, and
a dissimulation of manner and gesture which is wholly against the
grain of artists.
If they have told you no will has been made, you may be quite sure
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Daisy Miller by Henry James: design she had made him enter her carriage.
"I wished to beg you to cease your relations with Miss Miller--
not to flirt with her--to give her no further opportunity
to expose herself--to let her alone, in short."
"I'm afraid I can't do that," said Winterbourne.
"I like her extremely."
"All the more reason that you shouldn't help her to make a scandal."
"There shall be nothing scandalous in my attentions to her."
"There certainly will be in the way she takes them.
But I have said what I had on my conscience," Mrs. Walker pursued.
"If you wish to rejoin the young lady I will put you down.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Idylls of the King by Alfred Tennyson: Then went Sir Bedivere the second time
Across the ridge, and paced beside the mere,
Counting the dewy pebbles, fixed in thought;
But when he saw the wonder of the hilt,
How curiously and strangely chased, he smote
His palms together, and he cried aloud:
'And if indeed I cast the brand away,
Surely a precious thing, one worthy note,
Should thus be lost for ever from the earth,
Which might have pleased the eyes of many men.
What good should follow this, if this were done?
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