| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from A House of Pomegranates by Oscar Wilde: crouched up in the hollow of some old oak-tree, sharing his nuts
with the squirrels. They did not mind his being ugly, a bit. Why,
even the nightingale herself, who sang so sweetly in the orange
groves at night that sometimes the Moon leaned down to listen, was
not much to look at after all; and, besides, he had been kind to
them, and during that terribly bitter winter, when there were no
berries on the trees, and the ground was as hard as iron, and the
wolves had come down to the very gates of the city to look for
food, he had never once forgotten them, but had always given them
crumbs out of his little hunch of black bread, and divided with
them whatever poor breakfast he had.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from First Inaugural Address by Abraham Lincoln: the court or the judges. It is a duty from which they may not shrink
to decide cases properly brought before them, and it is no fault of
theirs if others seek to turn their decisions to political purposes.
One section of our country believes slavery is RIGHT, and ought
to be extended, while the other believes it is WRONG, and ought
not to be extended. This is the only substantial dispute.
The fugitive-slave clause of the Constitution, and the law for the
suppression of the foreign slave-trade, are each as well enforced,
perhaps, as any law can ever be in a community where the moral
sense of the people imperfectly supports the law itself.
The great body of the people abide by the dry legal obligation
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Lady Susan by Jane Austen: mother's errand hither was to fetch her away; and, miserable as it made the
poor girl, it was impossible to detain her. I was thoroughly unwilling to
let her go, and so was her uncle; and all that could be urged we did urge;
but Lady Susan declared that as she was now about to fix herself in London
for several months, she could not be easy if her daughter were not with her
for masters, &c. Her manner, to be sure, was very kind and proper, and Mr.
Vernon believes that Frederica will now be treated with affection. I wish I
could think so too. The poor girl's heart was almost broke at taking leave
of us. I charged her to write to me very often, and to remember that if she
were in any distress we should be always her friends. I took care to see
her alone, that I might say all this, and I hope made her a little more
Lady Susan |
