| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Menexenus by Plato: states, but there is one principle--he who appears to be wise and good is a
governor and ruler. The basis of this our government is equality of birth;
for other states are made up of all sorts and unequal conditions of men,
and therefore their governments are unequal; there are tyrannies and there
are oligarchies, in which the one party are slaves and the others masters.
But we and our citizens are brethren, the children all of one mother, and
we do not think it right to be one another's masters or servants; but the
natural equality of birth compels us to seek for legal equality, and to
recognize no superiority except in the reputation of virtue and wisdom.
And so their and our fathers, and these, too, our brethren, being nobly
born and having been brought up in all freedom, did both in their public
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Some Reminiscences by Joseph Conrad: does not make a literary man, any more than the love of the sea
makes a seaman. And it is very possible, too, that I love the
letters in the same way a literary man may love the sea he looks
at from the shore--a scene of great endeavour and of great
achievements changing the face of the world, the great open way
to all sorts of undiscovered countries. No, perhaps I had better
say that the life at sea--and I don't mean a mere taste of it,
but a good broad span of years, something that really counts as
real service--is not, upon the whole, a good equipment for a
writing life. God forbid, though, that I should be thought of as
denying my masters of the quarter-deck. I am not capable of that
Some Reminiscences |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Redheaded Outfield by Zane Grey: over the balls for examination Daddy simply
reached out and took them. They were small,
perfectly round and as hard as bullets. They had no
covers. The yarn had been closely and tightly
wrapped and then stitched over with fine bees-
waxed thread. Daddy fancied he detected a
difference in the weight of the ball, but Bo took them
back before Daddy could be sure of that point.
``You don't have to fan about it. I know a ball
when I see one,'' observed Daddy. ``But we're
on our own grounds an' we'll use our own ball.
The Redheaded Outfield |
