| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Phaedo by Plato: be absolutely true.
Yes, he said, Cebes, it is and must be so, in my opinion; and we have not
been deluded in making these admissions; but I am confident that there
truly is such a thing as living again, and that the living spring from the
dead, and that the souls of the dead are in existence, and that the good
souls have a better portion than the evil.
Cebes added: Your favorite doctrine, Socrates, that knowledge is simply
recollection, if true, also necessarily implies a previous time in which we
have learned that which we now recollect. But this would be impossible
unless our soul had been in some place before existing in the form of man;
here then is another proof of the soul's immortality.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The War in the Air by H. G. Wells: The Asiatic invasion of America completely effaced the
German-American conflict. It vanishes from history. At first it
had seemed to promise quite sufficient tragedy in
itself--beginning as it did in unforgettable massacre. After the
destruction of central New York all America had risen like one
man, resolved to die a thousand deaths rather than submit to
Germany. The Germans grimly resolved upon beating the Americans
into submission and, following out the plans developed by the
Prince, had seized Niagara--in order to avail themselves of its
enormous powerworks; expelled all its inhabitants and made a
desert of its environs as far as Buffalo. They had also,
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift: consented, nor the strict charge she gave the page to be careful
of me, bursting at the same time into a flood of tears, as if she
had some forboding of what was to happen. The boy took me out in
my box, about half an hours walk from the palace, towards the
rocks on the seashore. I ordered him to set me down, and lifting
up one of my sashes, cast many a wistful melancholy look towards
the sea. I found myself not very well, and told the page that I
had a mind to take a nap in my hammock, which I hoped would do me
good. I got in, and the boy shut the window close down, to keep
out the cold. I soon fell asleep, and all I can conjecture is,
while I slept, the page, thinking no danger could happen, went
Gulliver's Travels |
