| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Psychology of Revolution by Gustave le Bon: victim, and proceeded to pillage, burn, and massacre, imagining
that in so doing it was exercising a right.
The great strength of the revolutionary principles was that they
gave a free course to the instincts of primitive barbarity which
had been restrained by the secular and inhibitory action of
environment, tradition, and law.
All the social bonds that formerly contained the multitude were
day by day dissolving, so that it conceived a notion of unlimited
power, and the joy of seeing its ancient masters ferreted out and
despoiled. Having become the sovereign people, were not all
things permissible to it?
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Hellenica by Xenophon: resolution, the wind and a violent storm which arose prevented them.
So they set up a trophy, and took up their quarters for the night. As
to Etenoicus, the details of the engagement ware faithfully reported
to him by the express despatch-boat in attendance. On receipt of the
news, however, he sent the despatch-boat out again the way she came,
with an injunction to those on board of her to sail off quickly
without exchanging a word with any one. Then on a sudden they were to
return garlanded with wreaths of victory and shouting "Callicratidas
has won a great sea fight, and the whole Athenian squadron is
destroyed." This they did, and Eteonicus, on his side, as soon as the
despatch-boat came sailing in, proceeded to offer sacrifice of
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Light of Western Stars by Zane Grey: strange uproar--bawl and bellow, the shock of heavy bodies
meeting and falling, the shrill jabbering of the vaqueros, and
the shouts and banterings of the cowboys. They took sharp orders
and replied in jest. They went about this stern toil as if it
were a game to be played in good humor. One sang a rollicking
song, another whistled, another smoked a cigarette. The sun was
hot, and they, like their horses, were dripping with sweat. The
characteristic red faces had taken on so much dust that cowboys
could not be distinguished from vaqueros except by the difference
in dress. Blood was not wanting on tireless hands. The air was
thick, oppressive, rank with the smell of cattle and of burning
The Light of Western Stars |
