| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Reason Discourse by Rene Descartes: movements which indicate the passions, and can be imitated by machines as
well as manifested by animals; nor must it be thought with certain of the
ancients, that the brutes speak, although we do not understand their
language. For if such were the case, since they are endowed with many
organs analogous to ours, they could as easily communicate their thoughts
to us as to their fellows. It is also very worthy of remark, that, though
there are many animals which manifest more industry than we in certain of
their actions, the same animals are yet observed to show none at all in
many others: so that the circumstance that they do better than we does not
prove that they are endowed with mind, for it would thence follow that
they possessed greater reason than any of us, and could surpass us in all
Reason Discourse |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad: and I thought suddenly of my absurd mate with his terrific whiskers
and the "Bless my soul--you don't say so" type of intellect.
My double gave me an inkling of his thoughts by saying:
"My father's a parson in Norfolk. Do you see me before a judge
and jury on that charge? For myself I can't see the necessity.
There are fellows that an angel from heaven--And I am not that.
He was one of those creatures that are just simmering
all the time with a silly sort of wickedness.
Miserable devils that have no business to live at all.
He wouldn't do his duty and wouldn't let anybody else do theirs.
But what's the good of talking! You know well enough the sort
The Secret Sharer |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Adam Bede by George Eliot: discretion, "I think you'll be doing a good deed; and it will be
well for you to let Adam's mother and brother know that you're
going."
"Yes, sir, yes," said Bartle, rising, and taking off his
spectacles, "I'll do that, I'll do that; though the mother's a
whimpering thing--I don't like to come within earshot of her;
however, she's a straight-backed, clean woman, none of your
slatterns. I wish you good-bye, sir, and thank you for the time
you've spared me. You're everybody's friend in this business--
everybody's friend. It's a heavy weight you've got on your
shoulders."
Adam Bede |
