| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Modeste Mignon by Honore de Balzac: something in life more beautiful than the garlands of Parisian
coquetry; there grows a flower far up those Alpine peaks called
men of genius, the glory of humanity, which they fertilize with
the dews their lofty heads draw from the skies. I seek to
cultivate that flower and make it bloom; for its wild yet gentle
fragrance can never fail,--it is eternal.
Do me the honor to believe that there is nothing low or
commonplace in me. Were I Bettina, for I know to whom you allude,
I should never have become Madame von Arnim; and had I been one of
Lord Byron's many loves, I should be at this moment in a cloister.
You have touched me to the quick. You do not know me, but you
Modeste Mignon |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Child of Storm by H. Rider Haggard: or thirty thousand of them in this breast, which was in three divisions,
commanded, as I learned afterwards, by Cetewayo, Uzimela, and by a young
Boer named Groening.
"There they are, right enough," I said, climbing down from my rocks.
"What are you going to do, Mr. Dunn?"
"Obey orders and try to make peace, if I can find anyone to make peace
with; and if I can't--well, fight, I suppose. And you, Mr.
Quatermain?"
"Oh, obey orders and stop here, I suppose. Unless," I added doubtfully,
"these Amawombe take the bit between their teeth and run away with me."
"They'll do that before nightfall, Mr. Quatermain, if I know anything
Child of Storm |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Under the Andes by Rex Stout: into the air and fall again into the water.
"I'm hungry," Harry announced suddenly. "I wonder if we
couldn't turn the trick on that raft ourselves?"
The same thought had occurred to me, but Harry's impulsiveness
had made me fearful of expressing it. I hesitated.
"We've got to do something," he continued.
I suggested that it might be best to wait another hour or two.
"And why? Now is as good a time as any. If we intend to find
Desiree--"
"In the name of Heaven, how can we?" I interrupted.
"You don't mean to say you don't intend to try?" he exclaimed.
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