| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The White Moll by Frank L. Packard: White Moll.
And then, with her lips tightened, the straight little shoulders
thrown resolutely back, she slipped from the lane to the sidewalk,
and, hugging the shadows of the buildings, started forward.
She was alert now in mind and body, every faculty strained and in
tension. It was a long way, and it would take a great while - by
wide detours, by lanes and alleyways, for only on those streets that
were relatively deserted and poorly lighted would she dare trust
herself to the open. And as she went along, now skirting the side
of a street, now through some black courtyard, now forced to take
a fence, and taking it with the agility born of the open, athletic
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Recruit by Honore de Balzac: had returned to France to share in Granville's expedition, and was
taken prisoner. The letter was written from his cell, but it told her
to hope. He did not doubt his means of escape, and he named to her
three days, on one of which he expected to be with her in disguise.
But in case he did not reach Carentan by the third day, she might know
some fatal difficulty had occurred, and the letter contained his last
wishes and a sad farewell. The paper trembled in the old man's hand.
"This is the third day," cried the countess, rising and walking
hurriedly up and down.
"You have been very imprudent," said the merchant. "Why send Brigitte
to buy those provisions?"
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Tao Teh King by Lao-tze: Thus we say, 'Men's wills he bends,
That they with him unite.'
Thus we say, 'Like Heaven's his ends,
No sage of old more bright.'
69. 1. A master of the art of war has said, 'I do not dare to be the
host (to commence the war); I prefer to be the guest (to act on the
defensive). I do not dare to advance an inch; I prefer to retire a
foot.' This is called marshalling the ranks where there are no ranks;
baring the arms (to fight) where there are no arms to bare; grasping
the weapon where there is no weapon to grasp; advancing against the
enemy where there is no enemy.
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