| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Sons of the Soil by Honore de Balzac: everything, in short,--which makes their leathern skin almost a hide,
and their nerves an apparatus against physical pain almost as powerful
as that of the Russians or the Arabs.
"Here's one of Cooper's Red-skins," thought Blondet; "one needn't go
to America to study savages."
Though the Parisian was less than ten paces off, the old man did not
turn his head, but kept looking at the opposite bank with a fixity
which the fakirs of India give to their vitrified eyes and their
stiffened joints. Compelled by the power of a species of magnetism,
more contagious than people have any idea of, Blondet ended by gazing
at the water himself.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche: In their pity was their spirit drowned; and when they swelled and
o'erswelled with pity, there always floated to the surface a great folly.
Eagerly and with shouts drove they their flock over their foot-bridge; as
if there were but one foot-bridge to the future! Verily, those shepherds
also were still of the flock!
Small spirits and spacious souls had those shepherds: but, my brethren,
what small domains have even the most spacious souls hitherto been!
Characters of blood did they write on the way they went, and their folly
taught that truth is proved by blood.
But blood is the very worst witness to truth; blood tainteth the purest
teaching, and turneth it into delusion and hatred of heart.
Thus Spake Zarathustra |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Off on a Comet by Jules Verne: "I shouldn't think it would be an easy matter to find saints enough
for such a calendar as that!" said Ben Zoof.
Servadac laughed, and remarked that they should have the professor
talking about the 238th of June, and the 325th of December.
It soon became evident that the detached portion was not revolving
round the comet, but was gradually retreating into space.
Whether it had carried with it any portion of atmosphere,
whether it possessed any other condition for supporting life,
and whether it was likely ever again to approach to the earth,
were all questions that there were no means of determining.
For themselves the all-important problem was--what effect would
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