| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: rate, of hurting neither the throat nor the ear, as is too often
the case with scientific nomenclature, which sounds more like
sneezing than articulate speech. Since it is the rule to dignify
plants and animals with a Latin label, let us at least respect the
euphony of the classics and refrain from harsh splutters which spit
out a name instead of pronouncing it.
What will posterity do in face of the rising tide of a barbarous
vocabulary which, under the pretence of progress, stifles real
knowledge? It will relegate the whole business to the quagmire of
oblivion. But what will never disappear is the popular name, which
sounds well, is picturesque and conveys some sort of information.
The Life of the Spider |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce: "I swear it!"
"Good! -- then I will undertake to cure you."
TRINITY, n. In the multiplex theism of certain Christian churches,
three entirely distinct deities consistent with only one. Subordinate
deities of the polytheistic faith, such as devils and angels, are not
dowered with the power of combination, and must urge individually
their clames to adoration and propitiation. The Trinity is one of the
most sublime mysteries of our holy religion. In rejecting it because
it is incomprehensible, Unitarians betray their inadequate sense of
theological fundamentals. In religion we believe only what we do not
understand, except in the instance of an intelligible doctrine that
The Devil's Dictionary |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Iron Puddler by James J. Davis: that the younger men had not eaten any dinner. The older men paid
no attention to him and worked right ahead to the pie and
toothpick stage, but the younger fellows had been euchred out of
dinner and went back to work with wabbly steps and empty
stomachs.
This convinced me that the investigator was a false alarm. If
corned beef was poison, as he said, there wouldn't be a working
man alive in America. But millions have eaten corned beef all
their lives and have thrived on it. Things are never one tenth so
bad as the agitators say. They merely take the heart out of men
and send them back to work weakened and unhappy.
|
