| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from An Old Maid by Honore de Balzac: Mariette held court; he cast the eye of a gastronome around it, and
offered the advice of a past master in cookery.
"Good-day, madame," said Josette to Madame Granson, who courted the
maid. "Mademoiselle has thought of you, and there's fish for dinner."
As for the Chevalier de Valois, he remarked to Mariette, in the easy
tone of a great seigneur who condescends to be familiar:--
"Well, my dear cordon-bleu, to whom I should give the cross of the
Legion of honor, is there some little dainty for which I had better
reserve myself?"
"Yes, yes, Monsieur de Valois,--a hare sent from Prebaudet; weighs
fourteen pounds."
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Cratylus by Plato: language than the human mind easily conceives. And many fallacies have to
be dispelled, as well as observations made. The true spirit of philosophy
or metaphysics can alone charm away metaphysical illusions, which are
always reappearing, formerly in the fancies of neoplatonist writers, now in
the disguise of experience and common sense. An analogy, a figure of
speech, an intelligible theory, a superficial observation of the
individual, have often been mistaken for a true account of the origin of
language.
Speaking is one of the simplest natural operations, and also the most
complex. Nothing would seem to be easier or more trivial than a few words
uttered by a child in any language. Yet into the formation of those words
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini: utterly abhor me!"
"My dear," said Aline, and kissed the tear-stained face that seemed
to have grown years older in these last few hours.
In the background Andre-Louis, steeling himself against emotionalism,
spoke with the voice of Scaramouche.
"It would be well, mesdames, to postpone all transports until they
can be indulged at greater leisure and in more security. It is
growing late. If we are to get out of this shambles we should be
wise to take the road without more delay."
It was a tonic as effective as it was necessary. It startled them
into remembrance of their circumstances, and under the spur of it
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