| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Deserted Woman by Honore de Balzac: utterance which passes current as a witticism.
A few rich townspeople have crept into the miniature Faubourg Saint-
Germain, thanks to their money or their aristocratic leanings. But
despite their forty years, the circle still say of them, "Young So-
and-so has sound opinions," and of such do they make deputies. As a
rule, the elderly spinsters are their patronesses, not without
comment.
Finally, in this exclusive little set include two or three
ecclesiastics, admitted for the sake of their cloth, or for their wit;
for these great nobles find their own society rather dull, and
introduce the bourgeois element into their drawing-rooms, as a baker
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Collected Articles by Frederick Douglass: which at once enlisted his interest in me. He took me to his home to spend
the night, and in the morning went with me to Mr. David Ruggles,
the secretary of the New York Vigilance Committee, a co-worker with
Isaac T. Hopper, Lewis and Arthur Tappan, Theodore S. Wright, Samuel Cornish,
Thomas Downing, Philip A. Bell, and other true men of their time.
All these (save Mr. Bell, who still lives, and is editor and publisher of a paper
called the "Elevator," in San Francisco) have finished their work on earth.
Once in the hands of these brave and wise men, I felt comparatively safe.
With Mr. Ruggles, on the corner of Lispenard and Church streets,
I was hidden several days, during which time my intended wife came on
from Baltimore at my call, to share the burdens of life with me.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy: them rode the King of Naples himself accompanied by a numerous suite.
About the middle of the Arbat Street, near the Church of the
Miraculous Icon of St. Nicholas, Murat halted to await news from the
advanced detachment as to the condition in which they had found the
citadel, le Kremlin.
Around Murat gathered a group of those who had remained in Moscow.
They all stared in timid bewilderment at the strange, long-haired
commander dressed up in feathers and gold.
"Is that their Tsar himself? He's not bad!" low voices could be
heard saying.
An interpreter rode up to the group.
War and Peace |
