| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Crowd by Gustave le Bon: yet it is not sufficiently general, and many statesmen are still
no further advanced than the theorists of the last century, who
believed that a society could break off with its past and be
entirely recast on lines suggested solely by the light of reason.
A people is an organism created by the past, and, like every
other organism, it can only be modified by slow hereditary
accumulations.
It is tradition that guides men, and more especially so when they
are in a crowd. The changes they can effect in their traditions
with any ease, merely bear, as I have often repeated, upon names
and outward forms.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Case of The Lamp That Went Out by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: "Why, yes, you see more police here than anywhere else in the city."
"Yes, they're always sticking their nose in where they're not
necessary," remarked the old man, not realising to whom he was
speaking. "They fuss about everything you do or don't do, and yet
a man can be shot down right under our very noses here and the
police can't help it."
"But, my dear sir, it isn't always possible for the police to
prevent a criminal carrying out his evil intention," said Muller
good-naturedly.
"Well, why not? if they watch out sharp enough?"
"The police watch out sharper than most people think. But they
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Under the Andes by Rex Stout: fire.
There was a movement at my side. I turned and saw that it
came from Desiree. Her hands were raised to her face; she was
holding them before her as though in a futile attempt to cover her
eyes.
The thing came closer and closer; it was but a few feet away,
and still we did not move, as though rooted to the spot by some
power beyond our control.
Suddenly there came a cry from Desiree's lips--a scream of
terror and wild fear. Her entire form trembled violently.
She extended her arms toward the thing, now almost upon us,
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