| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Pierrette by Honore de Balzac: his property, divided into nine parts, would be but little for any one
of them. In five years, however, the man had lost seven children,--a
fact which made the forewoman so interesting that Rogron had tried,
unsuccessfully, to get her to marry him; but she showed an aversion
for her master which baffled his manoeuvres. Besides, Mademoiselle
Sylvie was not in favor of the match; in fact, she steadily opposed
her brother's marriage, and sought, instead, to make the shrewd young
woman their successor.
No passing observer can form the least idea of the cryptogramic
existence of a certain class of shopkeepers; he looks at them and asks
himself, "On what, and why, do they live? whence have they come? where
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Meno by Plato: state?
MENO: Yes, Socrates, that would have been the right way.
SOCRATES: But if the good are not by nature good, are they made good by
instruction?
MENO: There appears to be no other alternative, Socrates. On the
supposition that virtue is knowledge, there can be no doubt that virtue is
taught.
SOCRATES: Yes, indeed; but what if the supposition is erroneous?
MENO: I certainly thought just now that we were right.
SOCRATES: Yes, Meno; but a principle which has any soundness should stand
firm not only just now, but always.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay: soul, so that his music became ten times lovelier, and people
listening on that shore went mad with sick delight. 'Can any strains
be nobler?' demanded Shaping. Krag grinned and said, 'You are
naturally effeminate. Now let me try.' Then he stood behind
Swaylone, and shot ugly discords fast into his head. His instrument
was so cracked, that never since has it played right. From that time
forth Swaylone could utter only distorted music; yet it called to
folk more than the other sort. Many men crossed over to the island
during his lifetime, to listen to the amazing tones, but none could
endure them; all died. After Swaylone's death, another musician took
up the tale; and so the light has passed down from torch to torch,
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