| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson by Robert Louis Stevenson: affectionate son,
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.
Letter: TO MRS. SITWELL
MENTONE, TUESDAY, 13TH JANUARY 1874.
. . . I LOST a Philipine to little Mary Johnstone last night; so
to-day I sent her a rubbishing doll's toilet, and a little note
with it, with some verses telling how happy children made every one
near them happy also, and advising her to keep the lines, and some
day, when she was 'grown a stately demoiselle,' it would make her
'glad to know she gave pleasure long ago,' all in a very lame
fashion, with just a note of prose at the end, telling her to mind
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin: Cheerless Aspect of the Country -- Bald Head, calcareous casts
of branches of Trees -- Party of Natives -- Leave Australia.
JANUARY 12th, 1836. -- Early in the morning a light air
carried us towards the entrance of Port Jackson. Instead
of beholding a verdant country, interspersed with
fine houses, a straight line of yellowish cliff brought to our
minds the coast of Patagonia. A solitary lighthouse, built of
white stone, alone told us that we were near a great and
populous city. Having entered the harbour, it appears fine
and spacious, with cliff-formed shores of horizontally
stratified sandstone. The nearly level country is covered with
The Voyage of the Beagle |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Kenilworth by Walter Scott: ruffling tear-cats who maintain their master's quarrel with sword
and buckler. Nay, I am even one of those who hold the end of a
feast better than the beginning of a fray. But I know that I can
serve your worship better, in such quest as yours, than any of
these sword-and-dagger men, and that my head will be worth an
hundred of their hands."
Tressilian still hesitated. He knew not much of this strange
fellow, and was doubtful how far he could repose in him the
confidence necessary to render him a useful attendant upon the
present emergency. Ere he had come to a determination, the
trampling of a horse was heard in the courtyard, and Master
Kenilworth |
