| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Golden Sayings of Epictetus by Epictetus: Administration; and, How may I become free? For he is free for
whom all things come to pass according to his will, and whom none
can hinder. What then, is freedom madness? God forbid. For
madness and freedom exist not together.
"But I wish all that I desire to come to pass and in the
manner that I desire."
--You are mad, you are beside yourself. Know you not that
Freedom is a glorious thing and of great worth? But that what I
desired at random I should wish at random to come to pass, so far
from being noble, may well be exceeding base.
XXX
The Golden Sayings of Epictetus |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The People That Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs: far spread, nostrils dilated and eyes wide, watching me as I
edged toward him, taking in the slack of the rope as I advanced.
A dozen times he reared and tried to break away; but always I
spoke soothingly to him and after an hour of effort I succeeded
in reaching his head and stroking his muzzle. Then I gathered
a handful of grass and offered it to him, and always I talked
to him in a quiet and reassuring voice.
I had expected a battle royal; but on the contrary I found his
taming a matter of comparative ease. Though wild, he was
gentle to a degree, and of such remarkable intelligence that
he soon discovered that I had no intention of harming him.
The People That Time Forgot |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Confidence by Henry James: annoyed at her mother's interference. "Every now and then,"
she said, "I take a turn through the gaming-rooms. The last time,
Captain Lovelock went with me. Will you come to-night?"
Bernard assented with expressive alacrity; he was charmed
with her not wishing to break off her conversation with him.
"Ah, we 'll all go!" said Mrs. Vivian, who had been listening,
and she invited the others to accompany her to the Kursaal.
They left their places, but Angela went first, with Bernard
Longueville by her side; and the idea of her having publicly
braved her mother, as it were, for the sake of his society,
lent for the moment an almost ecstatic energy to his tread.
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