| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from On Horsemanship by Xenophon: your fiery-spirited horse is only too fond of contention.[6]
[6] Reading {skhedon gar kai phil oi thum}, or if {. . . oi thil kai
th.} transl. "the more eager and ambitious a horse is, the more
mettlesome he will tend to become."
Smooth bits are better and more serviceable than rough; if a rough bit
be inserted at all, it must be made to resemble a smooth one as much
as possible by lightness of hand.
It is a good thing also for the rider to accustom himself to keep a
quiet seat, especially when mounted on a spirited horse; and also to
touch him as little as possible with anything except that part of the
body necessary to secure a firm seat.
On Horsemanship |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Moby Dick by Herman Melville: less man has to do with aught that looks like death. Among
sea-commanders, the old greybeards will oftenest leave their berths
to visit the night-cloaked deck. It was so with Ahab; only that now,
of late, he seemed so much to live in the open air, that truly
speaking, his visits were more to the cabin, than from the cabin to
the planks. "It feels like going down into one's tomb,"--he would
mutter to himself--"for an old captain like me to be descending this
narrow scuttle, to go to my grave-dug berth."
So, almost every twenty-four hours, when the watches of the night
were set, and the band on deck sentinelled the slumbers of the band
below; and when if a rope was to be hauled upon the forecastle, the
Moby Dick |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death by Patrick Henry: our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make
a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power.
The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a
country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy
can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone.
There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will
raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the
strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir,
we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late
to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery!
Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston!
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