| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Apology by Xenophon: from the god? The god, at any rate, has foreknowledge, and premonishes
those whom he will of what is about to be. That is a thing which all
the world believes and asserts even as I do. Only, when they describe
these premonitions under the name of birds and utterances, tokens[24]
and soothsayers, I speak of a divinity, and in using that designation
I claim to speak at once more exactly and more reverentially than they
do who ascribe the power of the gods to birds. And that I am not lying
against the Godhead I have this as a proof: although I have reported
to numbers of friends the counsels of heaven, I have never at any time
been shown to be a deceiver or deceived."
[20] Cf. "Mem." I. i. 2.
The Apology |
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: together, fast asleep, like so many pigs; but even pigs would
have been ashamed of their dirt, and of the foul smell which
came from them. Each herd was watched by the patient but
inauspicious eyes of the turkey-buzzard. This disgusting bird,
with its bald scarlet head, formed to wallow in putridity, is
very common on the west coast, and their attendance on the
seals shows on what they rely for their food. We found the
water (probably only that of the surface) nearly fresh: this
was caused by the number of torrents which, in the form
of cascades, came tumbling over the bold granite mountains
into the sea. The fresh water attracts the fish, and these
The Voyage of the Beagle |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Plutarch's Lives by A. H. Clough: cheerful countenance through the Ceramicus, on his way with his
companions to the citadel, carrying a bridle in his hand to offer to
the goddess, intimating that there was no more need of horsemen now,
but of mariners. There, after he had paid his devotions to the
goddess, and offered up the bridle, he took down one of the bucklers
that hung upon the walls of the temple, and went down to the port; by
this example giving confidence to many of the citizens. He was also
of a fairly handsome person, according to the poet Ion, tall and
large, and let his thick and curly hair grow long. After he had
acquitted himself gallantly in this battle of Salamis, he obtained
great repute among the Athenians, and was regarded with affection, as
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