| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Apology by Xenophon: delicacies[37] of the market at great cost, mine are the dainties of
the soul more sweet than theirs,[38] procured without expense? If in
all I have said about myself no one can convict me of lying, is it not
obvious that the praise I get from gods and men is justly earned? And
yet in spite of all, Meletus, you will have it that by such habits I
corrupt the young. We know, I fancy, what such corrupting influences
are; and perhaps you will tell us if you know of any one who, under my
influence, has been changed from a religous into an irreligious man;
who, from being sober-minded, has become prodigal; from being a
moderate drinker has become a wine-bibber and a drunkard; from being a
lover of healthy honest toil has become effeminate, or under the
The Apology |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Memorabilia by Xenophon: were to shrink and hesitate and hang back--would he too not reasonably
be regarded as a coward?
Possibly (he answered); but why do you address these questions to me?
Because (replied Socrates) I think that you, who have this power, do
hesitate to devote yourself to matters which, as being a citizen, if
for no other reason, you are bound to take part in.[4]
[4] Or add, "and cannot escape from."
Charm. And wherein have you detected in me this power, that you pass
so severe a sentence upon me?
Soc. I have detected it plainly enough in those gatherings[5] in which
you meet the politicians of the day, when, as I observe, each time
The Memorabilia |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne: earth.
My uncle still had his eye upon his work. Torch in hand, he tried to
gather some idea of our situation from the observation of the strata.
This calculation could, at best, be but a vague approximation; but a
learned man is always a philosopher when he succeeds in remaining
cool, and assuredly Professor Liedenbrock possessed this quality to a
surprising degree.
I could hear him murmuring geological terms. I could understand them,
and in spite of myself I felt interested in this last geological
study.
"Eruptive granite," he was saying. "We are still in the primitive
Journey to the Center of the Earth |
