| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: find that I was gone, but to find three strangers left on the spot,
possessed of all that I had left behind me, which would otherwise
have been their own.
The first thing, however, which I inquired into, that I might begin
where I left off, was of their own part; and I desired the Spaniard
would give me a particular account of his voyage back to his
countrymen with the boat, when I sent him to fetch them over. He
told me there was little variety in that part, for nothing
remarkable happened to them on the way, having had very calm
weather and a smooth sea. As for his countrymen, it could not be
doubted, he said, but that they were overjoyed to see him (it seems
Robinson Crusoe |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Memorabilia by Xenophon: spare--when those who owing to their health and strength take a part
in the affair are lost; whilst those who were left behind--as hors de
combat, on account of ill-health of other feebleness--are saved.
Euth. Yes, you are right; but you will admit that there are advantages
to be got from strength and lost through weakness.
Soc. Even so; but ought we to regard those things which at one moment
benefit and at another moment injure us in any strict sense good
rather than evil?
Euth. No, certainly not, according to that line of argument. But
wisdom,[48] Socrates, you must on your side admit, is irrefragably a
good; since there is nothing which or in which a wise man would not do
The Memorabilia |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Stories From the Old Attic by Robert Harris: of men.
The Wise One
High in the mountains of a distant land there once lived a man so
incredibly old that his life no longer had any plot. He was so old
that his very name had faded from the memories of all those around
him, and he was known only as "The Wise One." He spent his later
days hearing and commenting on people's problems and sitting among a
dozen or two disciples who waited patiently to hear all that was
asked of him and all that he spoke. Sometimes an entire day would
pass when not a syllable opened his lips; whether this was from a
temporary lack of strength or simply because he had nothing to say,
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