| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen: oneself transplanted, the greater is the suffering. Everyday necessity is the
stagnant pool of life--no lovely picture reflects itself therein. Lieutenant,
love, and lack of money--that is a symbolic triangle, or much the same as the
half of the shattered die of Fortune. This the lieutenant felt most
poignantly, and this was the reason he leant his head against the window, and
sighed so deeply.
"The poor watchman out there in the street is far happier than I. He knows not
what I term privation. He has a home, a wife, and children, who weep with him
over his sorrows, who rejoice with him when he is glad. Oh, far happier were
I, could I exchange with him my being--with his desires and with his hopes
perform the weary pilgrimage of life! Oh, he is a hundred times happier than
Fairy Tales |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Pupil by Henry James: that Morgan wouldn't prove a bore. He would prove on the contrary
a source of agitation. This idea held the young man, in spite of a
certain repulsion.
"You pompous little person! We're not extravagant!" Mrs. Moreen
gaily protested, making another unsuccessful attempt to draw the
boy to her side. "You must know what to expect," she went on to
Pemberton.
"The less you expect the better!" her companion interposed. "But
we ARE people of fashion."
"Only so far as YOU make us so!" Mrs. Moreen tenderly mocked.
"Well then, on Friday - don't tell me you're superstitious - and
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain: days which is just a June day toned down to a degree
where it is heaven to be out of doors. Toward noon
the guests arrived, and we assembled under a great tree
and were soon as sociable as old acquaintances. Even
the king's reserve melted a little, though it was some
little trouble to him to adjust himself to the name of
Jones along at first. I had asked him to try to not
forget that he was a farmer; but I had also considered
it prudent to ask him to let the thing stand at that,
and not elaborate it any. Because he was just the
kind of person you could depend on to spoil a little
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court |
