| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Massimilla Doni by Honore de Balzac: shivers at Dresden, the lovely Maidens by Orcagna in the Church of
San-Michele, at Florence, the celestial choir round the tomb in Saint-
Sebaldus, at Nuremberg, the Virgins of the Duomo, at Milan, the whole
population of a hundred Gothic Cathedrals, all the race of beings who
burst their mould to visit you, great imaginative artists--all these
angelic and disembodied maidens gathered round Massimilla's bed, and
wept!
PARIS, May 25th, 1839.
ADDENDUM
The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy.
Cane, Marco-Facino
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: such a neighbour as were not often met with. While Sir William
was with them, Mr. Collins devoted his morning to driving him
out in his gig, and showing him the country; but when he went
away, the whole family returned to their usual employments, and
Elizabeth was thankful to find that they did not see more of her
cousin by the alteration, for the chief of the time between
breakfast and dinner was now passed by him either at work in
the garden or in reading and writing, and looking out of the
window in his own book-room, which fronted the road. The
room in which the ladies sat was backwards. Elizabeth had at
first rather wondered that Charlotte should not prefer the
Pride and Prejudice |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from What is Man? by Mark Twain: the inborn necessity of contenting his own spirit; in this it was
like all the other acts of his life, and like all the acts of all
men's lives. Do you see where the kernel of the matter lies? A
man cannot be comfortable without HIS OWN approval. He will
secure the largest share possible of that, at all costs, all
sacrifices.
Y.M. A minute ago you said Hamilton fought that duel to get
PUBLIC approval.
O.M. I did. By refusing to fight the duel he would have
secured his family's approval and a large share of his own; but
the public approval was more valuable in his eyes than all other
What is Man? |
