| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad: blue cloth, waited for more information. As that did not come he
proceeded to obtain it by a series of questions propounded with
gentle patience. Thus he acquired an idea of the nature of Mr
Verloc's commerce, of his personal appearance, and heard at last
his name. In a pause the Assistant Commissioner raised his eyes,
and discovered some animation on the Chief Inspector's face. They
looked at each other in silence.
"Of course," said the latter, "the department has no record of that
man."
"Did any of my predecessors have any knowledge of what you have
told me now?" asked the Assistant Commissioner, putting his elbows
The Secret Agent |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Louis Lambert by Honore de Balzac: The Will is a fluid inherent in every creature endowed with
motion. Hence the innumerable forms assumed by the Animal, the
results of its combinations with that Substance. The Animal's
instincts are the product of the coercion of the environment in
which it develops. Hence its variety.
III
In Man the Will becomes a power peculiar to him, and exceeding in
intensity that of any other species.
IV
By constant assimilation, the Will depends on the Substance it
meets with again and again in all its transmutations, pervading
Louis Lambert |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Odyssey by Homer: quarrel with my uncle Neptune, who never forgave you for having
blinded his son. {121} I will now, however, point out to you the
lie of the land, and you will then perhaps believe me. This is
the haven of the old merman Phorcys, and here is the olive tree
that grows at the head of it; [near it is the cave sacred to the
Naiads;] {122} here too is the overarching cavern in which you
have offered many an acceptable hecatomb to the nymphs, and this
is the wooded mountain Neritum."
As she spoke the goddess dispersed the mist and the land
appeared. Then Ulysses rejoiced at finding himself again in his
own land, and kissed the bounteous soil; he lifted up his hands
The Odyssey |
