| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from When a Man Marries by Mary Roberts Rinehart: under her feet, to turn right around and be lovely to Mr.
Harbison. It was hard for Jim.
Max came and sat beside me, and Flannigan, who had been sent down
for more cups, passed tea, putting the tray on top of the
chimney. Jim was sitting grumpily on the roof, with his feet
folded under him, playing Canfield in the shadow of the parapet,
buying the deck out of one pocket and putting his winnings in the
other. He was watching Bella, too, and she knew it, and she
strained a point to captivate Mr. Harbison. Any one could see
that.
And that was the picture that came out in the next morning's
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Republic by Plato: be quickly and easily accomplished, none quicker than that of turning a
mirror round and round--you would soon enough make the sun and the heavens,
and the earth and yourself, and other animals and plants, and all the other
things of which we were just now speaking, in the mirror.
Yes, he said; but they would be appearances only.
Very good, I said, you are coming to the point now. And the painter too
is, as I conceive, just such another--a creator of appearances, is he not?
Of course.
But then I suppose you will say that what he creates is untrue. And yet
there is a sense in which the painter also creates a bed?
Yes, he said, but not a real bed.
The Republic |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Oscar Wilde Miscellaneous by Oscar Wilde: his body was like honey.
The son of the Praefect slew himself in my honour, and the Tetrarch
of Cilicia scourged himself for my pleasure before my slaves.
The King of Hierapolis who is a priest and a robber set carpets for
me to walk on.
Sometimes I sit in the circus and the gladiators fight beneath me.
Once a Thracian who was my lover was caught in the net. I gave the
signal for him to die and the whole theatre applauded. Sometimes I
pass through the gymnasium and watch the young men wrestling or in
the race. Their bodies are bright with oil and their brows are
wreathed with willow sprays and with myrtle. They stamp their feet
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