| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Wife, et al by Anton Chekhov: and power of endurance of a camel, and that is important, and I
have talent, which is even more important. Moreover, while I am
on this subject, I am a well-educated, modest, and honest fellow.
I have never poked my nose into literature or politics; I have
never sought popularity in polemics with the ignorant; I have
never made speeches either at public dinners or at the funerals
of my friends. . . . In fact, there is no slur on my learned
name, and there is no complaint one can make against it. It is
fortunate.
The bearer of that name, that is I, see myself as a man of
sixty-two, with a bald head, with false teeth, and with an
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Cratylus by Plato: would explain the virtues. What principle of correctness is there in those
charming words--wisdom, understanding, justice, and the rest of them?
SOCRATES: That is a tremendous class of names which you are disinterring;
still, as I have put on the lion's skin, I must not be faint of heart; and
I suppose that I must consider the meaning of wisdom (phronesis) and
understanding (sunesis), and judgment (gnome), and knowledge (episteme),
and all those other charming words, as you call them?
HERMOGENES: Surely, we must not leave off until we find out their meaning.
SOCRATES: By the dog of Egypt I have a not bad notion which came into my
head only this moment: I believe that the primeval givers of names were
undoubtedly like too many of our modern philosophers, who, in their search
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Simple Soul by Gustave Flaubert: "Don't you see she is not in her right mind?"
From time to time Felicite spoke to shadows. The women left her and
Mother Simon sat down to breakfast.
A little later, she took Loulou and holding him up to Felicite:
"Say good-bye to him, now!" she commanded.
Although he was not a corpse, he was eaten up by worms; one of his
wings was broken and the wadding was coming out of his body. But
Felicite was blind now, and she took him and laid him against her
cheek. Then Mother Simon removed him in order to set him on the altar.
CHAPTER V
The grass exhaled an odour of summer; flies buzzed in the air, the sun
A Simple Soul |
