| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Plutarch's Lives by A. H. Clough: of Alcibiades vigorously assisting those who were for the popular
government. And now the people in the city not only desired, but
commanded Alcibiades to return home from his exile. He, however,
desired not to owe his return to the mere grace and commiseration of the
people, and resolved to come back, not with empty hands, but with glory,
and after some service done. To this end, he sailed from Samos with a
few ships, and cruised on the sea of Cnidos, and about the isle of Cos;
but receiving intelligence there that Mindarus, the Spartan admiral, had
sailed with his whole army into the Hellespont, and that the Athenians
had followed him, he hurried back to succor the Athenian commanders,
and, by good fortune, arrived with eighteen galleys at a critical time.
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Mayflower Compact: In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten,
the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereigne Lord, King James,
by the Grace of God, of Great Britaine, France, and Ireland,
King, Defender of the Faith, &c.
Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of
the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country,
a Voyage to plant the first colony in the Northerne Parts
of Virginia; doe, by these Presents, solemnly and mutually
in the Presence of God and one of another, covenant and
combine ourselves together into a civill Body Politick,
for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens: the rich glow of a summer evening; and knocking the ashes out of
his pipe, laughed inwardly at their folly, until his sides were
sore. When he had quite exhausted himself--which took some time,
for he laughed as slowly as he thought and spoke--he sat himself
comfortably with his back to the house, put his legs upon the
bench, then his apron over his face, and fell sound asleep.
How long he slept, matters not; but it was for no brief space, for
when he awoke, the rich light had faded, the sombre hues of night
were falling fast upon the landscape, and a few bright stars were
already twinkling overhead. The birds were all at roost, the
daisies on the green had closed their fairy hoods, the honeysuckle
Barnaby Rudge |
