| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Message by Honore de Balzac: inconsiderately towards a stranger to whom we are already under
obligations, would you have the goodness, as you are going to
Paris, to remit a sum of money to M. de ---- (I forget the name),
in the Rue du Sentier; I owe him an amount, and he asked me to
send it as soon as possible."
"Willingly," said I. And in the innocence of my heart, I took
charge of a rouleau of twenty-five louis d'or, which paid the
expenses of my journey back to Paris; and only when, on my
arrival, I went to the address indicated to repay the amount to
M. de Montpersan's correspondent, did I understand the ingenious
delicacy with which Juliette had obliged me. Was not all the
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Essays & Lectures by Oscar Wilde: justified,' he says, 'in rejecting the tradition of the magnitude
of the Trojan armament, because Mycenae and the other towns of that
age seem to us small and insignificant. For, if Lacedaemon was to
become desolate, any antiquarian judging merely from its ruins
would be inclined to regard the tale of the Spartan hegemony as an
idle myth; for the city is a mere collection of villages after the
old fashion of Hellas, and has none of those splendid public
buildings and temples which characterise Athens, and whose remains,
in the case of the latter city, would be so marvellous as to lead
the superficial observer into an exaggerated estimate of the
Athenian power.' Nothing can be more scientific than the
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte: glory of Him who has scattered so many blessings in our path.
Edward, by his strenuous exertions, has worked surprising reforms
in his parish, and is esteemed and loved by its inhabitants - as he
deserves; for whatever his faults may be as a man (and no one is
entirely without), I defy anybody to blame him as a pastor, a
husband, or a father.
Our children, Edward, Agnes, and little Mary, promise well; their
education, for the time being, is chiefly committed to me; and they
shall want no good thing that a mother's care can give. Our modest
income is amply sufficient for our requirements: and by practising
the economy we learnt in harder times, and never attempting to
Agnes Grey |
