| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James: Our next topic shall be Poverty, felt at all times and under all
creeds as one adornment of a saintly life. Since the instinct of
ownership is fundamental in man's nature, this is one more
example of the ascetic paradox. Yet it appears no paradox at
all, but perfectly reasonable, the moment one recollects how
easily higher excitements hold lower cupidities in check. Having
just quoted the Jesuit Rodriguez on the subject of obedience, I
will, to give immediately a concrete turn to our discussion of
poverty, also read you a page from his chapter on this latter
virtue. You must remember that he is writing instructions for
monks of his own order, and bases them all on the text, "Blessed
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Paz by Honore de Balzac: value of an actual forest. Here, in this solitude in the middle of
Paris, the birds sang, thrushes, nightingales, warblers, bulfinches,
and sparrows. The greenhouse was like an immense jardiniere, filling
the air with perfume in winter as in summer. The means by which its
atmosphere was made to order, torrid as in China or temperate as in
Italy, were cleverly concealed. Pipes in which hot water circulated,
or steam, were either hidden under ground or festooned with plants
overhead. The boudoir was a large room. The miracle of the modern
Parisian fairy named Architecture is to get all these many and great
things out of a limited bit of ground.
The boudoir of the young countess was arranged to suit the taste of
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Mistress Wilding by Rafael Sabatini: listening to him, was proud of his zeal, the sincerity of which it
never entered her mind to doubt.
Diana listened, too, but without illusions concerning Master Richard,
and she kept her conclusions to herself.
During the afternoon of the morrow, which was Sunday, Sir Rowland
returned to Bridgwater, his mission to Feversham entirely successful,
and all preparations made. He completed his arrangements, and towards
eight o'clock that night the twenty men sent by Feversham - they had
slipped singly into the town - began to muster in the orchard at the
back of Mr. Newlington's house.
It was just about that same hour that Mr. Wilding, saddle-worn and
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