| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Lesser Hippias by Plato: to our previous argument, which inclines me to believe that in general
those who do wrong involuntarily are worse than those who do wrong
voluntarily, and therefore I hope that you will be good to me, and not
refuse to heal me; for you will do me a much greater benefit if you cure my
soul of ignorance, than you would if you were to cure my body of disease.
I must, however, tell you beforehand, that if you make a long oration to me
you will not cure me, for I shall not be able to follow you; but if you
will answer me, as you did just now, you will do me a great deal of good,
and I do not think that you will be any the worse yourself. And I have
some claim upon you also, O son of Apemantus, for you incited me to
converse with Hippias; and now, if Hippias will not answer me, you must
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Koran: Say, 'God's is the intercession, all of it; His is the kingdom of
the heavens and the earth; then unto Him shall ye be sent back.'
And when God alone is mentioned the hearts of those who believe
not in the hereafter quake, and when those beside Him are mentioned,
lo, they are joyful!
Say, 'O God! originator of the heavens and the earth, who knowest
the unseen and the visible, thou wilt judge between thy servants
concerning that whereon they do dispute!'
And had those who do wrong all that is in the earth, and the like
thereof with it, they would ransom themselves therewith from the
evil of the torment on the resurrection day! but there shall appear to
The Koran |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas: morning."
"It was they!" cried the cardinal, looking at the clock; "and now
it is too late to have them persued. The duchess is at Tours,
and the duke at Boulogne. It is in London they must be found."
"What are your Eminence's orders?"
"Not a word of what has passed. Let the queen remain in perfect
security; let her be ignorant that we know her secret. Let her
believe that we are in search of some conspiracy or other. Send
me the keeper of the seals, Seguier."
"And that man, what has your Eminence done with him?"
"What man?" asked the cardinal.
The Three Musketeers |
