| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy: worker.
There was only one idle person in the household, and that was
Ivan's father, a very old man who for seven years had suffered
from asthma, and who spent the greater part of his time lying on
the brick oven.
Ivan had plenty of everything--three horses, with one colt, a cow
with calf, and fifteen sheep. The women made the men's clothes,
and in addition to performing all the necessary household labor,
also worked in the field; while the men's industry was confined
altogether to the farm.
What was left of the previous year's supply of provisions was
The Kreutzer Sonata |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau by Honore de Balzac: face and quiet attitude, the old man had an inward calm not expressed
in phrases nor by emphasis. His eye, the pupil of which was green,
mingled with black lines, was remarkable for its unalterable
clearness. His forehead, wrinkled in straight lines and yellowed by
time, was small and narrow, hard, and crowned with silver-gray hair
cut so short that it looked like felt. His delicate mouth showed
prudence, but not avarice. The vivacity of his eye showed the purity
of his life. Integrity, a sense of duty, and true modesty made, as it
were, a halo round his head, bringing his face into the relief of a
sound and healthful existence.
For sixty years he had led the hard and sober life of a determined
Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Arizona Nights by Stewart Edward White: Once across the divide, we ran into a new sort of trouble. You
may remember that on our journey over we had been forced to
travel for some distance in a narrow stream-bed. During our
passage we had scrambled up some rather steep and rough slopes,
and hopped up some fairly high ledges. Now we found the
heretofore dry bed flowing a good eight inches deep. The steep
slopes had become cascades; the ledges, waterfalls. When we
came to them, we had to "shoot the rapids" as best we could,
only to land with a PLUNK in an indeterminately deep pool at the
bottom. Some of the pack horses went down, sousing again our
unfortunate bedding, but by the grace of fortune not a saddle
|
