| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Memorabilia by Xenophon: [10] Cf. "Symp." iv. 27.
As I listened to this talk I could not but reflect that he, the
master, was a person to be envied, and that we, his hearers, were
being led by him to beauty and nobility of soul.
Again on some occasion the same Antiphon asked Socrates how he
expected to make politicians of others when, even if he had the
knowledge, he did not engage in politics himself.
Socrates replied: I will put to you a question, Antiphon: Which were
the more statesmanlike proceeding, to practise politics myself single-
handed, or to devote myself to making as many others as possible fit
to engage in that pursuit?
The Memorabilia |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Lesser Hippias by Plato: bearing this name passed current in antiquity, and are attributed to
contemporaries of Socrates and Plato. (1) In the entire absence of real
external evidence (for the catalogues of the Alexandrian librarians cannot
be regarded as trustworthy); and (2) in the absence of the highest marks
either of poetical or philosophical excellence; and (3) considering that we
have express testimony to the existence of contemporary writings bearing
the name of Alcibiades, we are compelled to suspend our judgment on the
genuineness of the extant dialogue.
Neither at this point, nor at any other, do we propose to draw an absolute
line of demarcation between genuine and spurious writings of Plato. They
fade off imperceptibly from one class to another. There may have been
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Girl with the Golden Eyes by Honore de Balzac: have a thousand secret causes which, here more than elsewhere, destroy
their physiognomy, there are to be found in the feminine world little
happy colonies, who live in Oriental fashion and can preserve their
beauty; but these women rarely show themselves on foot in the streets,
they lie hid like rare plants who only unfold their petals at certain
hours, and constitute veritable exotic exceptions. However, Paris is
essentially the country of contrasts. If true sentiments are rare
there, there also are to be found, as elsewhere, noble friendships and
unlimited devotion. On this battlefield of interests and passions,
just as in the midst of those marching societies where egoism
triumphs, where every one is obliged to defend himself, and which we
The Girl with the Golden Eyes |
