| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Chouans by Honore de Balzac: "Oh, monsieur le marquis, if the king comes back that's all I want."
"But for yourself?"
"For myself? are you joking?"
The marquis pressed the horny hand of the Breton, and said to Madame
du Gua, who was near them: "Madame, I may perish in this enterprise
before I have time to make a faithful report to the king on the
Catholic armies of Brittany. I charge you, in case you live to see the
Restoration, not to forget this honorable man nor the Baron du Guenic.
There is more devotion in them than in all those other men put
together."
He pointed to the chiefs, who were waiting with some impatience till
The Chouans |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad: mean the very young. No. The very young have,
properly speaking, no moments. It is the privi-
lege of early youth to live in advance of its days
in all the beautiful continuity of hope which
knows no pauses and no introspection.
One closes behind one the little gate of mere
boyishness--and enters an enchanted garden. Its
very shades glow with promise. Every turn of the
path has its seduction. And it isn't because it
is an undiscovered country. One knows well
enough that all mankind had streamed that way.
The Shadow Line |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Master and Man by Leo Tolstoy: himself. He carefully undid the fastening of his sheepskin,
pushed in his hand, and felt about for a long time before he
got to his waistcoat. With great difficulty he managed to draw
out his silver watch with its enamelled flower design, and
tried to make out the time. He could not see anything without
a light. Again he went down on his knees and elbows as he had
done when he lighted a cigarette, got out his matches, and
proceeded to strike one. This time he went to work more
carefully, and feeling with his fingers for a match with the
largest head and the greatest amount of phosphorus, lit it at
the first try. Bringing the face of the watch under the light
Master and Man |
