| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Tao Teh King by Lao-tze: of a thousand li commenced with a single step.
3. He who acts (with an ulterior purpose) does harm; he who takes hold
of a thing (in the same way) loses his hold. The sage does not act
(so), and therefore does no harm; he does not lay hold (so), and
therefore does not lose his bold. (But) people in their conduct of
affairs are constantly ruining them when they are on the eve of
success. If they were careful at the end, as (they should be) at the
beginning, they would not so ruin them.
4. Therefore the sage desires what (other men) do not desire, and does
not prize things difficult to get; he learns what (other men) do not
learn, and turns back to what the multitude of men have passed by.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Oakdale Affair by Edgar Rice Burroughs: investigate." He rose. "I'm going down, rustle some wood
and build a fire in that stove--you two kids have got to
dry those clothes of yours and get warmed up or we'll
have a couple of hospital cases on our hands."
Once again rose a chorus of pleas and objections. Oh,
wouldn't he wait until daylight? See! the dawn was
even then commencing to break. They didn't dare go
down and they begged him not to leave them up there
alone.
At this Dopey Charlie spoke up. The 'hop' had com-
menced to assert its dominion over his shattered nervous
The Oakdale Affair |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Michael Strogoff by Jules Verne: "Yes; of that the letter informs me."
"And His Majesty himself spoke to me of it, telling me
I was above all things to beware of the traitor."
"Did you meet with him?"
"Yes, your Highness, after the battle of Krasnoiarsk.
If he had only guessed that I was the bearer of a letter
addressed to your Highness, in which his plans were re-
vealed, I should not have got off so easily."
"No; you would have been lost!" replied the Grand
Duke. "And how did you manage to escape?"
"By throwing myself into the Irtych."
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