| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Alcibiades I by Plato: are convicted, not by me, but out of your own mouth and by your own
argument; wherefore also you rush into politics before you are educated.
Neither is your case to be deemed singular. For I might say the same of
almost all our statesmen, with the exception, perhaps of your guardian,
Pericles.
ALCIBIADES: Yes, Socrates; and Pericles is said not to have got his wisdom
by the light of nature, but to have associated with several of the
philosophers; with Pythocleides, for example, and with Anaxagoras, and now
in advanced life with Damon, in the hope of gaining wisdom.
SOCRATES: Very good; but did you ever know a man wise in anything who was
unable to impart his particular wisdom? For example, he who taught you
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Deputy of Arcis by Honore de Balzac: your coming arrival, after paying a visit to the Brothers Mongenod, I
shall valiantly start, imagining the stupefaction of the good people
of Arcis on seeing another candidate pop up in their midst like a
Jack-in-the-box.
In Paris I have already fired my gun. The "National" has announced my
candidacy in the warmest terms; and it seems that this evening, in the
house of the Minister of the Interior, where Monsieur de l'Estorade
was dining, I was discussed at some length. I ought to add that,
according to Monsieur de l'Estorade, the general impression is that I
shall certainly fail of election. The ministry might possibly fear a
candidate from the Left centre; but as for the democratic party to
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot: Gaily, when invited, beating obedient
To controlling hands
I sat upon the shore
Fishing, with the arid plain behind me
Shall I at least set my lands in order?
London Bridge is falling down falling down falling down
_Poi s'ascose nel foco che gli affina
Quando fiam ceu chelidon_ -- O swallow swallow
_Le Prince d'Aquitaine à la tour abolie_
These fragments I have shored against my ruins 430
Why then Ile fit you. Hieronymo's mad againe.
The Waste Land |
