| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Barlaam and Ioasaph by St. John of Damascus: wickedness, was putting forth these many vain arguments and
useless propositions, and weaving words about the preaching of
the Gospel, desiring to turn it into mockery, and magnify
idolatry, Ioasaph, the son of the heavenly king, and citizen of
that city which the Lord hath builded and not man, waited a while
and then said unto him,
"Give ear, thou abyss of error, blacker than the darkness that
may be felt, thou seed of Babylon, child of the building of the
tower of Chalane, whereby the world was confounded, foolish and
pitiable dotard, whose sins out-weigh the iniquity of the five
cities that were destroyed by fire and brimstone. Why wouldest
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Daisy Miller by Henry James: I wonder," he added, turning to Giovanelli, "that you,
a native Roman, should countenance such a terrible indiscretion."
"Ah," said the handsome native, "for myself I am not afraid."
"Neither am I--for you! I am speaking for this young lady."
Giovanelli lifted his well-shaped eyebrows and showed his brilliant teeth.
But he took Winterbourne's rebuke with docility. "I told the signorina it
was a grave indiscretion, but when was the signorina ever prudent?"
"I never was sick, and I don't mean to be!" the signorina declared.
"I don't look like much, but I'm healthy! I was bound to see the Colosseum
by moonlight; I shouldn't have wanted to go home without that;
and we have had the most beautiful time, haven't we, Mr. Giovanelli?
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Straight Deal by Owen Wister: man, but as an heroic leader, to whose courage and wisdom the English as
well as the American people were eternally indebted... .
"Pray forgive so long a letter from a stranger. It is prompted... by a
sense of the illimitable importance, not only for America and Britain,
but for the entire world, of these two great democratic peoples knowing
each other as they really are and cooperating as only they can cooperate
to establish and maintain peace on just and permanent foundations."
Chapter III: In Front of a Bulletin Board
There, then, are ten letters of the fifty which came to me in consequence
of what I wrote in May, 1918, which was published in the American
Magazine for the following November. Ten will do. To read the other forty
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