| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Confidence by Henry James: "I am glad you remember what it was," said Bernard.
"If I have seemed uncivil, let me make it up. When a woman speaks
of giving up society, what she means is giving up admiration.
You can never have given up that--you can never have escaped from it.
You must have found it even at Sorrento."
"It may have been there, but I never found it. It was very respectful--
it never expressed itself."
"That is the deepest kind," said Bernard.
"I prefer the shallower varieties," the young girl answered.
"Well," said Bernard, "you must remember that although shallow admiration
expresses itself, all the admiration that expresses itself is not shallow."
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Mother by Owen Wister: now turned to the question of investing my fortune. Just round the corner
from our office was the firm of Blake and Beverly, Stocks and Bonds.
Thither my steps began frequently to turn. Mr. Beverly had business which
brought him every week to the room of our president; and so having a sort
of acquaintance with him, I felt it easier to consult him than to seek
any other among the brokers, to which class I was a well nigh total
stranger. He very kindly consented to be my adviser. I was well pleased
to find how much I had underrated the interest-bearing capacity of my
windfall. 'Four per cent!' he cried, when I told him this was the extent
of my expectations. 'Why, you're talking like a trustee.' And then seeing
that his meaning was beyond me, he explained in his bluff, humorous
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Alcibiades I by Plato: who will remain, and will not run away?
ALCIBIADES: Certainly, let me hear.
SOCRATES: You had better be careful, for I may very likely be as unwilling
to end as I have hitherto been to begin.
ALCIBIADES: Proceed, my good man, and I will listen.
SOCRATES: I will proceed; and, although no lover likes to speak with one
who has no feeling of love in him (compare Symp.), I will make an effort,
and tell you what I meant: My love, Alcibiades, which I hardly like to
confess, would long ago have passed away, as I flatter myself, if I saw you
loving your good things, or thinking that you ought to pass life in the
enjoyment of them. But I shall reveal other thoughts of yours, which you
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