| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Unconscious Comedians by Honore de Balzac: hoarsened by the phlegm which seemed to rise and fall incessantly in
her bronchial tubes.
"The rose."
"What color are you fond of?"
"Blue."
"What animal do you prefer?"
"The horse. Why these questions?" he asked.
"Man derives his form from his anterior states," she said
sententiously. "Hence his instincts; and his instincts rule his
destiny. What food do you like best to eat,--fish, game, cereals,
butcher's meat, sweet things, vegetables, or fruits?"
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Symposium by Xenophon: Plat. "Charm." 176 C. See Gow, "Companion," xiv. 74.
Crit. Do you be good enough yourself to put your questions.
Soc. Do you consider that the quality of beauty is confined to man, or
is it to be found in other objects also? What is your belief on this
point?
Crit. For my part, I consider it belongs alike to animals--the horse,
the ox--and to many things inanimate: that is to say, a shield, a
sword, a spear are often beautiful.
Soc. How is it possible that things, in no respect resembling one
another, should each and all be beautiful?[4]
[4] See "Mem." III. viii. 5, quoted by Galen, "de Usu Part." i. 370.
The Symposium |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Royalty Restored/London Under Charles II by J. Fitzgerald Molloy: he did, and then all the company; and having done it, all fell
acrying for joy, being all maudlin and kissing one another, the
king the Duke of York, the Duke of York the king; and in such a
maudlin pickle as never people were."
Throughout this reign the uttermost hospitality and
good-fellowship abounded. Scarce a day passed that some noble
house did not throw open its doors to a brilliant throng of
guests; few nights grew to dawn that the vicinities of St.
James's and Covent Garden were not made brilliant by the torches
of those accompanying revellers to their homes. The fashionable
hour for dinner was three of the clock, and for greater
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