| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Deserted Woman by Honore de Balzac: day he would have eighty thousand livres of income from land; money
made everything bearable; if Mme. de Beauseant loved him for his own
sake, she ought to be the first to urge him to marry. In short, the
well-intentioned mother forgot no arguments which the feminine
intellect can bring to bear upon the masculine mind, and by these
means she had brought her son into a wavering condition.
Mme. de Beauseant's letter arrived just as Gaston's love of her was
holding out against the temptations of a settled life conformable to
received ideas. That letter decided the day. He made up his mind to
break off with the Marquise and to marry.
"One must live a man's life," said he to himself.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Grimm's Fairy Tales by Brothers Grimm: she took another hearty drink, and let the second chicken follow the
first.
While she was making the most of it, her master came and cried: 'Hurry
up, Gretel, the guest is coming directly after me!' 'Yes, sir, I will
soon serve up,' answered Gretel. Meantime the master looked to see
what the table was properly laid, and took the great knife, wherewith
he was going to carve the chickens, and sharpened it on the steps.
Presently the guest came, and knocked politely and courteously at the
house-door. Gretel ran, and looked to see who was there, and when she
saw the guest, she put her finger to her lips and said: 'Hush! hush!
go away as quickly as you can, if my master catches you it will be the
Grimm's Fairy Tales |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Critias by Plato: their willing followers. And they took care to preserve the same number of
men and women through all time, being so many as were required for warlike
purposes, then as now--that is to say, about twenty thousand. Such were
the ancient Athenians, and after this manner they righteously administered
their own land and the rest of Hellas; they were renowned all over Europe
and Asia for the beauty of their persons and for the many virtues of their
souls, and of all men who lived in those days they were the most
illustrious. And next, if I have not forgotten what I heard when I was a
child, I will impart to you the character and origin of their adversaries.
For friends should not keep their stories to themselves, but have them in
common.
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