| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Z. Marcas by Honore de Balzac: "The Barbaric hordes now are the intelligent class. The laws of
overpressure are at this moment acting slowly and silently in our
midst. The Government is the great criminal; it does not appreciate
the two powers to which it owes everything; it has allowed its hands
to be tied by the absurdities of the Contract; it is bound, ready to
be the victim.
"Louis XIV., Napoleon, England, all were or are eager for intelligent
youth. In France the young are condemned by the new legislation, by
the blundering principles of elective rights, by the unsoundness of
the ministerial constitution.
"Look at the elective Chamber; you will find no deputies of thirty;
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Troll Garden and Selected Stories by Willa Cather: "You go away tomorrow?"
"Yes, we have stayed longer than we thought to now."
"You not come back any more?"
"No, I expect not. You see, it is a long trip halfway across
the continent."
"You soon forget about this country, I guess." It seemed to
him now a little thing to lose his soul for this woman, but that
she should utterly forget this night into which he threw all his
life and all his eternity, that was a bitter thought.
"No, Eric, I will not forget. You have all been too kind to
me for that. And you won't be sorry you danced this one night,
The Troll Garden and Selected Stories |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Purse by Honore de Balzac: No painter of manners has ventured to initiate us--perhaps out of
modesty--into the really curious privacy of certain Parisian
existences, into the secret of the dwellings whence emerge such
fresh and elegant toilets, such brilliant women, who rich on the
surface, allow the signs of very doubtful comfort to peep out in
every part of their home. If, here, the picture is too boldly
drawn, if you find it tedious in places, do not blame the
description, which is, indeed, part and parcel of my story; for
the appearance of the rooms inhabited by his two neighbors had a
great influence on the feelings and hopes of Hippolyte Schinner.
The house belonged to one of those proprietors in whom there is a
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