| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Cousin Pons by Honore de Balzac: services of the ugliest kind.
President de Marville lived in the Rue de Hanovre, in a house which
his wife had bought ten years previously, on the death of her parents,
for the Sieur and Dame Thirion left their daughter about a hundred and
fifty thousand francs, the savings of a lifetime. With its north
aspect, the house looks gloomy enough seen from the street, but the
back looks towards the south over the courtyard, with a rather pretty
garden beyond it. As the President occupied the whole of the first
floor, once the abode of a great financier of the time of Louis XIV.,
and the second was let to a wealthy old lady, the house wore a look of
dignified repose befitting a magistrate's residence. President Camusot
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Lone Star Ranger by Zane Grey: "Jennie, come out or let us come in. Here's the young man I was
tellin' you about," Euchre said.
"Oh, I can't! I look so--so--"
"Never mind how you look," interrupted the outlaw, in a
whisper. "It ain't no time to care fer thet. Here's young
Duane. Jennie, he's no rustler, no thief. He's different. Come
out, Jennie, an' mebbe he'll--"
Euchre did not complete his sentence. He had spoken low, with
his glance shifting from side to side.
But what he said was sufficient to bring the girl quickly. She
appeared in the doorway with downcast eyes and a stain of red
The Lone Star Ranger |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli: knowledge is useful in two ways. Firstly, he learns to know his
country, and is better able to undertake its defence; afterwards, by
means of the knowledge and observation of that locality, he
understands with ease any other which it may be necessary for him to
study hereafter; because the hills, valleys, and plains, and rivers
and marshes that are, for instance, in Tuscany, have a certain
resemblance to those of other countries, so that with a knowledge of
the aspect of one country one can easily arrive at a knowledge of
others. And the prince that lacks this skill lacks the essential which
it is desirable that a captain should possess, for it teaches him to
surprise his enemy, to select quarters, to lead armies, to array the
The Prince |
