| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Philebus by Plato: man may fancy himself richer, fairer, better, wiser than he is? 'Yes.'
And he who thus deceives himself may be strong or weak? 'He may.' And if
he is strong we fear him, and if he is weak we laugh at him, which is a
pleasure, and yet we envy him, which is a pain? These mixed feelings are
the rationale of tragedy and comedy, and equally the rationale of the
greater drama of human life. (There appears to be some confusion in this
passage. There is no difficulty in seeing that in comedy, as in tragedy,
the spectator may view the performance with mixed feelings of pain as well
as of pleasure; nor is there any difficulty in understanding that envy is a
mixed feeling, which rejoices not without pain at the misfortunes of
others, and laughs at their ignorance of themselves. But Plato seems to
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy: took a walk about the farm. The domestic servants were through
with their work and had dressed themselves for the day, while
Michael's wife and their widowed daughter (who was visiting them,
as was her custom on holidays) had been to church and returned.
A steaming samovar awaited them, and they began to drink tea
with Michael, who, after lighting his pipe, called the elder to
him.
"Well," said the superintendent, "have you ordered the moujiks to
plough to-day?"
"Yes, sir, I did," was the reply.
"Have they all gone to the field?"
The Kreutzer Sonata |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from My Aunt Margaret's Mirror by Walter Scott: reasonably furnished. He rose as the ladies entered, and,
notwithstanding the inferiority of their dress, received them
with the marked respect due to their quality, and which
foreigners are usually punctilious in rendering to those to whom
such honours are due.
Lady Bothwell endeavoured to maintain her proposed incognito,
and, as the Doctor ushered them to the upper end of the room,
made a motion declining his courtesy, as unfitted for their
condition. "We are poor people, sir," she said; "only my
sister's distress has brought us to consult your worship whether
--"
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