| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Mansion by Henry van Dyke: buildings
near at hand, as if it felt the rising value of the land on which
it stood.
John Weightman was like the house into which he had built himself
thirty years ago, and in which his ideals and ambitions were
incrusted.
He was a self-made man. But in making himself he had chosen a
highly esteemed pattern and worked according to the approved
rules.
There was nothing irregular, questionable, flamboyant about him.
He was solid, correct, and justly successful.
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Democracy In America, Volume 1 by Alexis de Toqueville: before the Reform Bill of 1832, and accordingly Great Britain has
thus far escaped and surmounted the perils and calamities to
which she seemed to be exposed.]]
In the United States, where the public officers have no
interests to promote connected with their caste, the general and
constant influence of the Government is beneficial, although the
individuals who conduct it are frequently unskilful and sometimes
contemptible. There is indeed a secret tendency in democratic
institutions to render the exertions of the citizens subservient
to the prosperity of the community, notwithstanding their private
vices and mistakes; whilst in aristocratic institutions there is
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Young Forester by Zane Grey: them killed the trees by eating the leaves. I showed how mice and squirrels
injured the forest by eating the seeds.
"First I'd cut and sell all the matured and dead timber. Then I'd thin out
the spreading trees that want all the light, and the saplings that grow too
close together. I'd get rid of the beetles, and try to check the spread of
caterpillars. For trees grow twice as fast if they are not choked or diseased.
Then I'd keep planting seeds and shoots in the open places, taking
care to favor the species best adapted to the soil, and cutting those that
don't grow well. In this way we'll be keeping our forest while doubling its
growth and value, and having a yearly income from it."
"Kenneth, I see you're in dead earnest about this business," said my
The Young Forester |
