| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Letters of Two Brides by Honore de Balzac: feeling so many varying forms of devotion? Pardon me, then, if at
times the father and brother disappear behind the lover, since you
know they are none the less there, though screened from view. Would
that you could read the feelings of my heart when you appear before
me, radiant in your beauty, the centre of admiring eyes, reclining
calmly in your carriage in the Champs-Elysees, or seated in your box
at the Opera! Then would you know how absolutely free from selfish
taint is the pride with which I hear the praises of your loveliness
and grace, praises which warm my heart even to the strangers who utter
them! When by chance you have raised me to elysium by a friendly
greeting, my pride is mingled with humility, and I depart as though
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Miracle Mongers and Their Methods by Harry Houdini: in my mouth and puffing till the man in
charge yelled out to me that I was swallowing
his gas. Then I looked up, and,
sure enough, there I was pulling away at
the slender flame that came from the glass
tube.
``I dropped it instantly, and felt of my
mouth, but noticed no inconvenience or
unpleasant sensation whatever.
`` `What do you mean by it?' said the
proprietor.
Miracle Mongers and Their Methods |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Wrecker by Stevenson & Osbourne: Captain Wicks was a fore-and-aft sailor; he could take a
schooner through a Scotch reel, felt her mouth and divined her
temper like a rider with a horse; she, on her side, recognising
her master and following his wishes like a dog. But by a not
very unusual train of circumstance, the man's dexterity was
partial and circumscribed. On a schooner's deck he was
Rembrandt or (at the least) Mr. Whistler; on board a brig he
was Pierre Grassou. Again and again in the course of the
morning, he had reasoned out his policy and rehearsed his
orders; and ever with the same depression and weariness. It
was guess-work; it was chance; the ship might behave as he
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