| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Commission in Lunacy by Honore de Balzac: are those of a madman; that for nearly ten years he has given his
thoughts exclusively to China, its customs, manners, and history; that
he refers everything to a Chinese origin; that when he is questioned
on the subject, he confuses the events of the day and the business of
yesterday with facts relating to China; that he censures the acts of
the Government and the conduct of the King, though he is personally
much attached to him, by comparing them with the politics of China;
" 'That this monomania has driven the Marquis d'Espard to conduct
devoid of all sense: against the customs of men of rank, and, in
opposition to his own professed ideas as to the duties of the
nobility, he has joined a commercial undertaking, for which he
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy: of man, liberty, chastity, is looked upon as something wretched
and ridiculous. The highest ideal, the best situation of woman,
to be pure, to be a vestal, a virgin, excites fear and laughter
in our society. How many, how many young girls sacrifice their
purity to this Moloch of opinion by marrying rascals that they
may not remain virgins,--that is, superiors! Through fear of
finding themselves in that ideal state, they ruin themselves.
"But I did not understand formerly, I did not understand that the
words of the Gospel, that 'he who looks upon a woman to lust
after her has already committed adultery,' do not apply to the
wives of others, but notably and especially to our own wives. I
The Kreutzer Sonata |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Juana by Honore de Balzac: melancholy by which all women are more or less duped.
The Marquis de Montefiore possessed an entailed property, but his
income was mortgaged for a number of years to pay off the costs of
certain Italian escapades which are inconceivable in Paris. He had
ruined himself in supporting a theatre at Milan in order to force upon
a public a very inferior prima donna, whom he was said to love madly.
A fine future was therefore before him, and he did not care to risk it
for the paltry distinction of a bit of red ribbon. He was not a brave
man, but he was certainly a philosopher; and he had precedents, if we
may use so parliamentary an expression. Did not Philip the Second
register a vow after the battle of Saint Quentin that never again
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