| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Virginibus Puerisque by Robert Louis Stevenson: subtle expression haunts the lower part, sensual and
incredulous, like that of a man tasting good Bordeaux with
half a fancy it has been somewhat too long uncorked. From
under the pendulous eyelids of old age the eyes look out with
a half-youthful, half-frosty twinkle. Hands, with no pretence
to distinction, are folded on the judge's stomach. So
sympathetically is the character conceived by the portrait
painter, that it is hardly possible to avoid some movement of
sympathy on the part of the spectator. And sympathy is a
thing to be encouraged, apart from humane considerations,
because it supplies us with the materials for wisdom. It is
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Elixir of Life by Honore de Balzac: rustlings; it was the breeze in the tree-tops, he thought. But
when he had moistened the right arm, he felt himself caught by
the throat, a young strong hand held him in a tight grip--it was
his father's hand! He shrieked aloud; the flask dropped from his
hand and broke in pieces. The liquid evaporated; the whole
household hurried into the room, holding torches aloft. That
shriek had startled them, and filled them with as much terror as
if the Trumpet of the Angel sounding on the Last Day had rung
through earth and sky. The room was full of people, and a horror-
stricken crowd beheld the fainting Felipe upheld by the strong
arm of his father, who clutched him by the throat. They saw
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Malbone: An Oldport Romance by Thomas Wentworth Higginson: antagonism. Perhaps if two beings were in absolutely no respect
alike, they never could meet even for purposes of hostility;
there must be some common ground from which the aversion may
proceed. Moreover, in this case Aunt Jane utterly disbelieved
in Malbone because she had reason to disbelieve in his father,
and the better she knew the son the more she disliked the
father retrospectively.
Philip was apt to be very heedless of such aversions,--indeed,
he had few to heed,--but it was apparent that Aunt Jane was the
only person with whom he was not quite at ease. Still, the
solicitude did not trouble him very much, for he instinctively
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