| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Silas Marner by George Eliot: The weaver's hand had known the touch of hard-won money even before
the palm had grown to its full breadth; for twenty years, mysterious
money had stood to him as the symbol of earthly good, and the
immediate object of toil. He had seemed to love it little in the
years when every penny had its purpose for him; for he loved the
_purpose_ then. But now, when all purpose was gone, that habit of
looking towards the money and grasping it with a sense of fulfilled
effort made a loam that was deep enough for the seeds of desire; and
as Silas walked homeward across the fields in the twilight, he drew
out the money and thought it was brighter in the gathering gloom.
About this time an incident happened which seemed to open a
Silas Marner |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Battle of the Books by Jonathan Swift: legislature, as we have lately found by a severe instance. For it
is confidently reported, that two young gentlemen of real hopes,
bright wit, and profound judgment, who, upon a thorough examination
of causes and effects, and by the mere force of natural abilities,
without the least tincture of learning, having made a discovery
that there was no God, and generously communicating their thoughts
for the good of the public, were some time ago, by an unparalleled
severity, and upon I know not what obsolete law, broke for
blasphemy. And as it has been wisely observed, if persecution once
begins, no man alive knows how far it may reach, or where it will
end.
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Cromwell by William Shakespeare: In vain it is, more of their hearts to try;
Be patient, therefore, lay thee down and die.
[He lies down.]
[Enter good man Seely, and his wife Joan.]
SEELY.
Come, Joan, come; let's see what he'll do for us
now. Iwis we have done for him, when many a
time and often he might have gone a hungry to bed.
WIFE.
Alas, man, now he is made a Lord, he'll never look
upon us; he'll fulfill the old Proverb: Set beggars a
|
