| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Parmenides by Plato: which they could hardly follow him. From the crude idea of Being in the
abstract, he was about to proceed to universals or general notions. There
is no contradiction in material things partaking of the ideas of one and
many; neither is there any contradiction in the ideas of one and many, like
and unlike, in themselves. But the contradiction arises when we attempt to
conceive ideas in their connexion, or to ascertain their relation to
phenomena. Still he affirms the existence of such ideas; and this is the
position which is now in turn submitted to the criticisms of Parmenides.
To appreciate truly the character of these criticisms, we must remember the
place held by Parmenides in the history of Greek philosophy. He is the
founder of idealism, and also of dialectic, or, in modern phraseology, of
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Aesop's Fables by Aesop: big as a mountain, with horns on its head, and a long tail, and it
had hoofs divided in two."
"Tush, child, tush," said the old Frog, "that was only Farmer
White's Ox. It isn't so big either; he may be a little bit taller
than I, but I could easily make myself quite as broad; just you
see." So he blew himself out, and blew himself out, and blew
himself out. "Was he as big as that?" asked he.
"Oh, much bigger than that," said the young Frog.
Again the old one blew himself out, and asked the young one if
the Ox was as big as that.
"Bigger, father, bigger," was the reply.
Aesop's Fables |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot: In which sad light a carved dolphin swam.
Above the antique mantel was displayed
As though a window gave upon the sylvan scene
The change of Philomel, by the barbarous king
So rudely forced; yet there the nightingale 100
Filled all the desert with inviolable voice
And still she cried, and still the world pursues,
'Jug Jug' to dirty ears.
And other withered stumps of time
Were told upon the walls; staring forms
Leaned out, leaning, hushing the room enclosed.
The Waste Land |
