| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Agesilaus by Xenophon: He rejoiced when sordid greed was rewarded with poverty; and still
more if he might himself enrich a righteous man, since his wish was to
render uprightness more profitable than iniquity.
He made it a practice to associate with all kinds of people, but to be
intimate only with the best.
As he listened to the praise of this man, or the censure of another,
he felt that he learnt quite as much about the character of the
speakers themselves as of those whom they discussed.
To be cheated by a friend was scarcely censurable, but he could find
no comdemnation strong enough for him who was outwitted by a foe. Or
again, to dupe the incredulous might argue wit, but to take in the
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Philosophy 4 by Owen Wister: eye wandered back to it, although Mr. Diggs had become full of anecdotes
about the Civil War. It was partly Grecian: a knot stood out behind to
a considerable distance. But this was not the whole plan. From front to
back ran a parting, clear and severe, and curls fell from this to the
temples in a manner called, I believe, by the enlightened, a l'Anne
d'Autriche. The color was gray, to be sure; but this propriety did not
save the structure from Billy's increasing observation. As bottles came
to stand on the table in greater numbers, the closer and the more
solemnly did Billy continue to follow the movements of Mrs. Diggs. They
would without doubt have noticed him and his foreboding gravity but for
Mr. Diggs's experiences in the Civil War.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Complete Angler by Izaak Walton: Amwell Hill to-morrow morning before sun-rising.
The second day
On the Otter and the Chub
Chapter II
Piscator, Venator, Huntsman, and Hostess
Venator. My friend Piscator, you have kept time with my thoughts; for
the sun is just rising, and I myself just now come to this place, and the
dogs have just now put down an Otter. Look ! down at the bottom of the
hill there, in that meadow, chequered with water-lilies and lady-
smocks; there you may see what work they make; look! look! you may
see all busy; men and dogs; dogs and men; all busy.
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