| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Barlaam and Ioasaph by St. John of Damascus: world and place me in that other life that is endless and
eternal; and that in nothing I could withstand the might of his
providence, nor add anything to myself nor take anything away,
whether in stature or bodily form, and that I am not able to
renew for myself that which is waxen old, nor raise that which
hath been destroyed. For never was man able to accomplish aught
of these things, neither king, nor wise man, nor rich man, nor
ruler, nor any other that pursueth the tasks of men. For he
saith, `There is no king, or mighty man, that had any other
beginning of birth. For all men have one entrance into life, and
the like going out.'
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain: at hand and began to dig under one end of it with his
Barlow knife. He soon struck wood that sounded
hollow. He put his hand there and uttered this in-
cantation impressively:
"What hasn't come here, come! What's here, stay
here!"
Then he scraped away the dirt, and exposed a pine
shingle. He took it up and disclosed a shapely little
treasure-house whose bottom and sides were of shingles.
In it lay a marble. Tom's astonishment was bound-
less! He scratched his head with a perplexed air,
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol: diamonds or a two of clubs--as a sacred thing; so sacred that on one
occasion two closely related ladies who had also been closely attached
friends were known to fall out with one another over the mere fact of
an omission to return a social call! Yes, in spite of the best efforts
of husbands and kinsfolk to reconcile the antagonists, it became clear
that, though all else in the world might conceivably be possible,
never could the hatchet be buried between ladies who had quarrelled
over a neglected visit. Likewise strenuous scenes used to take place
over questions of precedence--scenes of a kind which had the effect of
inspiring husbands to great and knightly ideas on the subject of
protecting the fair. True, never did a duel actually take place, since
Dead Souls |
