| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Faraday as a Discoverer by John Tyndall: the atomic theory. Facts cannot satisfy the mind: and the law of
definite combining proportions being once established, the question
'why should combination take place according to that law?' is
inevitable. Dalton answered this question by the enunciation of the
Atomic Theory, the fundamental idea of which is, in my opinion,
perfectly secure. The objection of Faraday to Dalton might be urged
with the same substantial force against Newton: it might be stated
with regard to the planetary motions that the laws of Kepler
revealed the facts; that the introduction of the principle of
gravitation was an addition to the facts. But this is the essence
of all theory. The theory is the backward guess from fact to
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Bride of Lammermoor by Walter Scott: form by those with whom she lived. He felt that his own temper
required a partner of a more independent spirit, who could set
sail with him on his course of life, resolved as himself to dare
indifferently the storm and the favouring breeze. But Lucy was
so beautiful, so devoutly attached to him, of a temper so
exquisitely soft and kind, that, while he could have wished it
were possible to inspire her with a greater degree of firmness
and resolution, and while he sometimes became impatient of the
extreme fear which she expressed of their attachment being
prematurely discovered, he felt that the softness of a mind,
amounting almost to feebleness, rendered her even dearer to him,
The Bride of Lammermoor |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde: only met her six months ago. Till then, I never knew of her
existence.
LORD AUGUSTUS. You have seen a good deal of her since then.
LORD WINDERMERE. [Coldly.] Yes, I have seen a good deal of her
since then. I have just seen her.
LORD AUGUSTUS. Egad! the women are very down on her. I have been
dining with Arabella this evening! By Jove! you should have heard
what she said about Mrs. Erlynne. She didn't leave a rag on her.
. . [Aside.] Berwick and I told her that didn't matter much, as
the lady in question must have an extremely fine figure. You
should have seen Arabella's expression! . . . But, look here, dear
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