| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli: Concerning these two methods of rising to be a prince by ability or
fortune, I wish to adduce two examples within our own recollection,
and these are Francesco Sforza[*] and Cesare Borgia. Francesco, by
proper means and with great ability, from being a private person rose
to be Duke of Milan, and that which he had acquired with a thousand
anxieties he kept with little trouble. On the other hand, Cesare
Borgia, called by the people Duke Valentino, acquired his state during
the ascendancy of his father, and on its decline he lost it,
notwithstanding that he had taken every measure and done all that
ought to be done by a wise and able man to fix firmly his roots in the
states which the arms and fortunes of others had bestowed on him.
The Prince |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Elizabeth and her German Garden by Marie Annette Beauchamp: the glimpse of surplice and Roman nose and fiery moustache which was all I
ever saw of him, and which I loved to distraction for at least six months;
at the end of which time, going out with my governess one day,
I passed him in the street, and discovered that his unofficial garb
was a frock-coat combined with a turn-down collar and a "bowler" hat,
and never loved him any more.
The first part of that time of blessedness was the most perfect, for I
had not a thought of <13> anything but the peace and beauty all round me.
Then he appeared suddenly who has a right to appear when and how
he will and rebuked me for never having written, and when I told him
that I had been literally too happy to think of writing, he seemed
Elizabeth and her German Garden |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Brother of Daphne by Dornford Yates: in the direction of the car.
Berry watched her retreat, and turned to his listeners with a
sigh.
"I'm afraid I've gone and upset her now," he said. "I oughtn't
to have reminded her of the untoward incident. It was the only
string bag they had, and it was an awful blow to her. It upset
him, too, terribly. Never the same man again. In fact, from
that day he began to go wrong- criminally, I mean."
The little group grew closer to him than ever. Like a fool, I
stayed to hear more.
"Yes," Berry went on, "in less than a month he was up at the Old
The Brother of Daphne |
