| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Laches by Plato: they have had teachers, and perhaps have made discoveries; and he would
have trusted them entirely, if they had not been diametrically opposed.
Lysimachus here proposes to resign the argument into the hands of the
younger part of the company, as he is old, and has a bad memory. He
earnestly requests Socrates to remain;--in this showing, as Nicias says,
how little he knows the man, who will certainly not go away until he has
cross-examined the company about their past lives. Nicias has often
submitted to this process; and Laches is quite willing to learn from
Socrates, because his actions, in the true Dorian mode, correspond to his
words.
Socrates proceeds: We might ask who are our teachers? But a better and
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Awakening & Selected Short Stories by Kate Chopin: well convinced of her loyalty to doubt it.
He was glad to see Edna, and wanted her to go with him into
the salon and entertain him. But Madame Ratignolle would not
consent that Edna should leave her for an instant. Between
agonizing moments, she chatted a little, and said it took her mind
off her sufferings.
Edna began to feel uneasy. She was seized with a vague dread.
Her own like experiences seemed far away, unreal, and only half
remembered. She recalled faintly an ecstasy of pain, the heavy
odor of chloroform, a stupor which had deadened sensation, and an
awakening to find a little new life to which she had given being,
Awakening & Selected Short Stories |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan by Honore de Balzac: attachment, watching for the hour, long awaited by feeble beings, of
springing at the throat of the stronger and leaving the mark of a
joyful bite. Diane saw clear; but the world was the dupe of the wile
caresses of the two friends.
The instant that the princess perceived a direct question on the lips
of her friend, she said:--
"Ah! dearest, I owe you a most complete, immense, infinite, celestial
happiness."
"What can you mean?"
"Have you forgotten what we ruminated three months ago in the little
garden, sitting on a bench in the sun, under the jasmine? Ah! there
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