| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Lysis by Plato: by a disinterested person who sees with clearer eyes may be of inestimable
value. When the heart is failing and despair is setting in, then to hear
the voice or grasp the hand of a friend, in a shipwreck, in a defeat, in
some other failure or misfortune, may restore the necessary courage and
composure to the paralysed and disordered mind, and convert the feeble
person into a hero; (compare Symposium).
It is true that friendships are apt to be disappointing: either we expect
too much from them; or we are indolent and do not 'keep them in repair;' or
being admitted to intimacy with another, we see his faults too clearly and
lose our respect for him; and he loses his affection for us. Friendships
may be too violent; and they may be too sensitive. The egotism of one of
Lysis |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: telephone."
We were silent. The voice in the hall rose high with annoyance:
"Very well, then, I won't sell you the car at all. . . . I'm
under no obligations to you at all . . . and as for your bothering me
about it at lunch time, I won't stand that at all!"
"Holding down the receiver," said Daisy cynically.
"No, he's not," I assured her. "It's a bona-fide deal. I happen to
know about it."
Tom flung open the door, blocked out its space for a moment with his
thick body, and hurried into the room.
"Mr. Gatsby!" He put out his broad, flat hand with well-concealed
The Great Gatsby |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas: "The distinction made in that instance was a truly noble
act, and one which displayed the king's goodness of heart to
great advantage."
"The king's, you say."
"The cardinal's, I mean. `This unhappy man,' said M.
Mazarin, `is destined to remain in prison forever.'"
"Why so?"
"Why, it seems that his crime is a lasting one, and,
consequently, his punishment ought to be so, too."
"Lasting?"
"No doubt of it, unless he is fortunate enough to catch the
Ten Years Later |
