| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from A Personal Record by Joseph Conrad: to all sorts of undiscovered countries. No, perhaps I had better
say that the life at sea--and I don't mean a mere taste of it,
but a good broad span of years, something that really counts as
real service--is not, upon the whole, a good equipment for a
writing life. God forbid, though, that I should be thought of as
denying my masters of the quarter-deck. I am not capable of that
sort of apostasy. I have confessed my attitude of piety toward
their shades in three or four tales, and if any man on earth more
than another needs to be true to himself as he hopes to be saved,
it is certainly the writer of fiction.
What I meant to say, simply, is that the quarter-deck training
A Personal Record |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Edingburgh Picturesque Notes by Robert Louis Stevenson: one of those remarkable tenures of land which linger on
into the modern world from Feudalism. Whenever the
reigning sovereign passes by, a certain landed proprietor
is held bound to climb on to the top, trumpet in hand,
and sound a flourish according to the measure of his
knowledge in that art. Happily for a respectable family,
crowned heads have no great business in the Pentland
Hills. But the story lends a character of comicality to
the stone; and the passer-by will sometimes chuckle to
himself.
The district is dear to the superstitious. Hard by,
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Lost Princess of Oz by L. Frank Baum: lost."
"If you did," said Toto, "no one would worry a bit. I think
Button-Bright is a very lucky boy because he always gets found."
"See here," said the Lion, "this chatter is keeping us all awake, and
tomorrow is likely to be a busy day. Go to sleep and forget your
quarrels."
"Friend Lion," retorted the dog, "if I hadn't lost my growl, you would
hear it now. I have as much right to talk as you have to sleep."
The Lion sighed.
"If only you had lost your voice when you lost your
growl," said he, "you would be a more agreeable companion."
The Lost Princess of Oz |
