| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Purse by Honore de Balzac: she suffered, at the cost of her heart and her sweet illusions,
the disenchantment which falls on us so slowly and yet so
quickly--for we try to postpone as long as possible our belief in
evil, and it seems to come too soon--that day was a whole age of
reflection, and it was also a day of religious thought and
resignation. She refused the alms of the man who had betrayed
her, renounced the world, and made a glory of her shame. She gave
herself up entirely to her motherly love, seeking in it all her
joys in exchange for the social pleasures to which she bid
farewell. She lived by work, saving up a treasure for her son.
And, in after years, a day, an hour repaid her amply for the long
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Herodias by Gustave Flaubert: "A multitude was standing on the banks of the stream, my lord; many of
the people were putting on their raiment. Standing on a hillock, a
strange man was speaking to the gathering. A camel's-skin was wrapped
about his loins, and his head was like that of a lion. As soon as he
saw me, he launched in my direction all the maledictions of the
prophets. His eyes flamed, his voice shook, he raised his arms as if
he would draw down lightning upon my head. I could not fly from him;
the wheels of my chariot sank in the sand up to the middle; and I
could only crawl along, hiding my head with my mantle, and frozen with
terror at the curses that poured upon me like a storm from heaven!"
Continuing her harangue, she declared that the knowledge that this man
Herodias |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln by Helen Nicolay: a speech. And yet, there is not a more fatal error to young
lawyers than relying too much on speech-making. If any one, upon
his rare powers of speaking, shall claim an exemption from the
drudgery of the law, his case is a failure in advance."
Discourage going to law. "Persuade your neighbors to compromise
whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is
often a real loser--in fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a
peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good
man. There will still be business enough." "There is a vague
popular belief that lawyers are necessarily dishonest. Let no
young man choosing the law for a calling for a moment yield to
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