The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne: required a certain period of time.
Barbicane had regulated his chronometer to the tenth part of a
second by that of Murchison the engineer, who was charged with
the duty of firing the gun by means of an electric spark.
Thus the travelers enclosed within the projectile were enabled
to follow with their eyes the impassive needle which marked the
precise moment of their departure.
The moment had arrived for saying "good-by!" The scene was a
touching one. Despite his feverish gayety, even Michel Ardan
was touched. J. T. Maston had found in his own dry eyes one
ancient tear, which he had doubtless reserved for the occasion.
![](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0553214209.01.MZZZZZZZ.gif) From the Earth to the Moon |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Master and Man by Leo Tolstoy: words he was using, and having whisked the dusty, grooved back
of the well-fed young stallion with the skirt of his coat, he
put a bridle on his handsome head, straightened his ears and
forelock, and having taken off his halter led him out to water.
Picking his way out of the dung-strewn stable, Mukhorty
frisked, and making play with his hind leg pretended that he
meant to kick Nikita, who was running at a trot beside him to
the pump.
'Now then, now then, you rascal!' Nikita called out, well
knowing how carefully Mukhorty threw out his hind leg just to
touch his greasy sheepskin coat but not to strike him--a trick
![](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0140443312.01.MZZZZZZZ.gif) Master and Man |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Art of War by Sun Tzu: cooking-stoves, and make it plain to your men that they cannot
survive, but must fight to the death." Mei Yao-ch`en says: "The
only chance of life lies in giving up all hope of it." This
concludes what Sun Tzu has to say about "grounds" and the
"variations" corresponding to them. Reviewing the passages which
bear on this important subject, we cannot fail to be struck by
the desultory and unmethodical fashion in which it is treated.
Sun Tzu begins abruptly in VIII. ss. 2 to enumerate "variations"
before touching on "grounds" at all, but only mentions five,
namely nos. 7, 5, 8 and 9 of the subsequent list, and one that is
not included in it. A few varieties of ground are dealt with in
![](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0195014766.01.MZZZZZZZ.gif) The Art of War |