| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Soul of the Far East by Percival Lowell: spirit-evokers showed even less originality. Their results were
neither winsome nor sublime. The gods whom they created they
invested with very ordinary humanity, the usual endowment of
aboriginal deity, together with the customary superhuman strength.
If these demigods differed from others of their class, it was only
in being more commonplace, and in not meddling much with man.
Even such personification of natural forces, simple enough to be
self-suggested, quickly disappeared. The various awe-compelling
phenomena soon ceased to have any connection with the
anthropomorphic noumena they had begotten. For instance, the
sun-goddess, we are informed, was one day lured out of a cavern,
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Golden Sayings of Epictetus by Epictetus: "The good and evil of what? a horse, an ox?"
"No; of a man."
"Do we know then what Man is? what his nature is? what is th
idea we have of him? And are our ears practised in any degree on
the subject? Nay, do you understand what Nature is? can you
follow me in any degree when I say that I shall have to use
demonstration? Do you understand what Demonstration is? what True
or False is? . . .must I drive you to Philosophy? . . .Show me
what good I am to do by discoursing with you. Rouse my desire to
do so. The sight of a pasture it loves stirs in a sheep the
desire to feed: show it a stone or a bit of bread and it remains
The Golden Sayings of Epictetus |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Europeans by Henry James: dull life any more, let me amuse you!"
The Baroness had sunk once more into a chair, and she had taken
up a fan which she held, with both hands, to her mouth.
Over the top of the fan her eyes were fixed on him.
"You are very strange to-night," she said, with a little laugh.
"I will do anything in the world," he rejoined, standing in front of her.
"Should n't you like to travel about and see something of the country?
Won't you go to Niagara? You ought to see Niagara, you know."
"With you, do you mean?"
"I should be delighted to take you."
"You alone?"
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