| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James: result, and cannot be found by any special mental act or desire
to have it, beyond that general attitude of mind I have referred
to above. That which we usually make the object of life, those
outer things we are all so wildly seeking, which we so often live
and die for, but which then do not give us peace and happiness,
they should all come of themselves as accessory, and as the mere
outcome or natural result of a far higher life sunk deep in the
bosom of the spirit. This life is the real seeking of the
kingdom of God, the desire for his supremacy in our hearts, so
that all else comes as that which shall be 'added unto you'--as
quite incidental and as a surprise to us, perhaps; and yet it is
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Almayer's Folly by Joseph Conrad: that, because you are half white, and may forget that he is a
great chief, and that such things must be. Hide your anger, and
do not let him see on your face the pain that will eat your
heart. Meet him with joy in your eyes and wisdom on your lips,
for to you he will turn in sadness or in doubt. As long as he
looks upon many women your power will last, but should there be
one, one only with whom he seems to forget you, then--"
"I could not live," exclaimed Nina, covering her face with both
her hands. "Do not speak so, mother; it could not be."
"Then," went on Mrs. Almayer, steadily, "to that woman, Nina,
show no mercy."
Almayer's Folly |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche: All mankind's faults and weaknesses did they put betwixt themselves and
me:--they call it "false ceiling" in their houses.
But nevertheless I walk with my thoughts ABOVE their heads; and even should
I walk on mine own errors, still would I be above them and their heads.
For men are NOT equal: so speaketh justice. And what I will, THEY may not
will!--
Thus spake Zarathustra.
XXXIX. POETS.
"Since I have known the body better"--said Zarathustra to one of his
disciples--"the spirit hath only been to me symbolically spirit; and all
the 'imperishable'--that is also but a simile."
Thus Spake Zarathustra |
