| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Mirror of the Sea by Joseph Conrad: warrior. There is defiance in the remaining stumps of her masts,
raised up like maimed limbs against the menacing scowl of a stormy
sky; there is high courage in the upward sweep of her lines towards
the bow; and as soon as, on a hastily-rigged spar, a strip of
canvas is shown to the wind to keep her head to sea, she faces the
waves again with an unsubdued courage.
XIX.
The efficiency of a steamship consists not so much in her courage
as in the power she carries within herself. It beats and throbs
like a pulsating heart within her iron ribs, and when it stops, the
steamer, whose life is not so much a contest as the disdainful
The Mirror of the Sea |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Records of a Family of Engineers by Robert Louis Stevenson: length, and was making the necessary inquiry, when a young
man, accompanied by several idle-looking fellows, came up to
me, and in a hasty tone said, "Sir, in the king's name I seize
your person and papers." To which I replied that I should be
glad to see his authority, and know the reason of an address
so abrupt. He told me the want of time prevented his taking
regular steps, but that it would be necessary for me to return
to Penzance, as I was suspected of being a French spy. I
proposed to submit my papers to the nearest Justice of Peace,
who was immediately applied to, and came to the inn where I
was. He seemed to be greatly agitated, and quite at a loss
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Songs of Travel by Robert Louis Stevenson: Fares; and but waves a hand as he passes on,
Cries but a wayside word to her at the garden gate,
Sings but a boyish stave and his face is gone.
IV
IN dreams, unhappy, I behold you stand
As heretofore:
The unremembered tokens in your hand
Avail no more.
No more the morning glow, no more the grace,
Enshrines, endears.
Cold beats the light of time upon your face
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