| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte: "Monsieur, je vous remercie mille fois de votre bonte;" then rising,
she added, "C'est comme cela que maman faisait, n'est-ce pas,
monsieur?"
"Pre-cise-ly!" was the answer; "and, 'comme cela,' she charmed my
English gold out of my British breeches' pocket. I have been green,
too, Miss Eyre,--ay, grass green: not a more vernal tint freshens
you now than once freshened me. My Spring is gone, however, but it
has left me that French floweret on my hands, which, in some moods,
I would fain be rid of. Not valuing now the root whence it sprang;
having found that it was of a sort which nothing but gold dust could
manure, I have but half a liking to the blossom, especially when it
Jane Eyre |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Essays of Travel by Robert Louis Stevenson: emigrant ship. Barney ate, so to speak, nothing from the galley; his
own tea, butter, and eggs supported him throughout the voyage; and
about mealtime you might often find him up to the elbows in amateur
cookery. His was the first voice heard singing among all the
passengers; he was the first who fell to dancing. From Loch Foyle to
Sandy Hook, there was not a piece of fun undertaken but there was
Barney in the midst.
You ought to have seen him when he stood up to sing at our concerts -
his tight little figure stepping to and fro, and his feet shuffling
to the air, his eyes seeking and bestowing encouragement - and to
have enjoyed the bow, so nicely calculated between jest and earnest,
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Alcibiades I by Plato: 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
keep to yourself; whereby you will know that I have always had my eye on
you. Suppose that at this moment some God came to you and said:
Alcibiades, will you live as you are, or die in an instant if you are
forbidden to make any further acquisition?--I verily believe that you would
choose death. And I will tell you the hope in which you are at present
living: Before many days have elapsed, you think that you will come before
the Athenian assembly, and will prove to them that you are more worthy of
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