| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Elixir of Life by Honore de Balzac: evil; his morals had been corrupted by a licentious court, a
reflection worthy of the Duke of Urbino crossed his mind, and it
was a keen sense of curiosity that goaded him into boldness. The
devil himself might have whispered the words that were echoing
through his brain, Moisten one of the eyes with the liquid! He
took up a linen cloth, moistened it sparingly with the precious
fluid, and passed it lightly over the right eyelid of the corpse.
The eye unclosed. . . .
"Aha!" said Don Juan. He gripped the flask tightly, as we clutch
in dreams the branch from which we hang suspended over a
precipice.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Love and Friendship by Jane Austen: least surprised at your being so warm an advocate for the Beauty
of these girls "--
"Well, but (interrupted William) remember that we have not yet
concluded our dispute concerning them. What fault do you find
with their complexion?"
"They are so horridly pale."
"They have always a little colour, and after any exercise it is
considerably heightened."
"Yes, but if there should ever happen to be any rain in this part
of the world, they will never be able raise more than their
common stock--except indeed they amuse themselves with running up
Love and Friendship |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain: Ten minutes later the steamer is under way again, with no flag
on the jack-staff and no black smoke issuing from the chimneys.
After ten more minutes the town is dead again, and the town
drunkard asleep by the skids once more.
My father was a justice of the peace, and I supposed he possessed
the power of life and death over all men and could hang anybody that
offended him. This was distinction enough for me as a general thing;
but the desire to be a steamboatman kept intruding, nevertheless.
I first wanted to be a cabin-boy, so that I could come out with a white
apron on and shake a tablecloth over the side, where all my old comrades
could see me; later I thought I would rather be the deckhand who stood
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