| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Duchesse de Langeais by Honore de Balzac: she came early and went late; gave up dancing, and went to the
card-tables. Her experiments were fruitless. She did not
succeed in getting a glimpse of Armand. She did not dare to
utter his name now. One evening, however, in a fit of despair,
she spoke to Mme de Serizy, and asked as carelessly as she could,
"You must have quarrelled with M. de Montriveau? He is not to
be seen at your house now."
The Countess laughed. "So he does not come here either?" she
returned. "He is not to be seen anywhere, for that matter. He
is interested in some woman, no doubt."
"I used to think that the Marquis de Ronquerolles was one of his
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy: sooner--give me the baby, Diggory--you can go back now."
"I must go all the way," said Venn. "There is a quag
between us and that light, and you will walk into it up
to your neck unless I take you round."
"But the light is at the inn, and there is no quag
in front of that."
"No, the light is below the inn some two or three hundred yards."
"Never mind," said Thomasin hurriedly. "Go towards
the light, and not towards the inn."
"Yes," answered Venn, swerving round in obedience; and,
after a pause, "I wish you would tell me what this great
Return of the Native |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Golden Sayings of Epictetus by Epictetus: there anything new in all this? Is not this ignorance the cause
of all the mistakes and mischances of men since the human race
began? . . ."
"This is all I have to say to you, and even this against the
grain. Why? Because you have not stirred my spirit. For what can
I see in you to stir me, as a spirited horse will stir a judge of
horses? Your body? That you maltreat. Your dress? That is
luxurious. You behavior, your look?--Nothing whatever. When you
want to hear a philosopher, do not say, You say nothing to me';
only show yourself worthy or fit to hear, and then you will see
how you will move the speaker."
The Golden Sayings of Epictetus |
