| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Madame Firmiani by Honore de Balzac: conscious of her dignity as she appeared to be was incapable of a bad
action. Her dark eyes told of inward peace; the lines of her face were
so noble, the profile so pure, and the passion he had come to
investigate seemed so little to oppress her heart, that the old man
said to himself, while noting all the promises of love and virtue
given by that adorable countenance, "My nephew is committing some
folly."
Madame Firmiani acknowledged to twenty-five. But the Practicals proved
that having married the invisible Firmiani (then a highly respectable
individual in the forties) in 1813, at the age of sixteen, she must be
at least twenty-eight in 1825. However the same persons also asserted
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Dynamiter by Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny Van De Grift Stevenson: nothing could afford her greater pleasure, for, though she
had never crossed the threshold, she had frequently observed
his beautiful pictures through the door. On entering the
dining-room, the sight of a bottle and two glasses prepared
her to be a gentle critic; and as soon as the pictures had
been viewed and praised, she was easily persuaded to join the
painter in a single glass. 'Here,' she said, 'are my
respects; and a pleasure it is, in this horrible house, to
see a gentleman like yourself, so affable and free, and a
very nice painter, I am sure.' One glass so agreeably
prefaced, was sure to lead to the acceptance of a second; at
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: done mischief, however little she might like such employment.
She therefore led Ulysses out of the back entrance of the
palace, and showed him the swine in their sty. There were about
fifty of these unclean beasts in the whole herd; and though the
greater part were hogs by birth and education, there was
wonderfully little difference to be seen betwixt them and their
new brethren, who had so recently worn the human shape. To
speak critically, indeed, the latter rather carried the thing
to excess, and seemed to make it a point to wallow in the
miriest part of the sty, and otherwise to outdo the original
swine in their own natural vocation. When men once turn to
 Tanglewood Tales |