| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne: us, and which were meant by Heaven to be the spirit's joy and
nutriment. To the untrue man, the whole universe is false -- it
is impalpable -- it shrinks to nothing within his grasp. And he
himself in so far as he shows himself in a false light, becomes a
shadow, or, indeed, ceases to exist. The only truth that
continued to give Mr. Dimmesdale a real existence on this earth
was the anguish in his inmost soul, and the undissembled
expression of it in his aspect. Had he once found power to
smile, and wear a face of gaiety, there would have been no such
man!
The Scarlet Letter |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Philosophy 4 by Owen Wister: understand them, not as long as he lived, nor they him. When their
mirth Was over he did somewhat better, but it was tardy. You see, he
was not a specimen of the first rank, or he would have said at once what
he said now: "I wish to study my notes a little myself, gentlemen."
"Go along, Oscar, with your inflammable notes, go along!" said Bertie,
in supreme good-humor. "And we'll meet to-morrow at ten--if there
hasn't been a fire--Better keep your notes in the bath, Oscar."
In as much haste as could be made with a good appearance, Oscar buckled
his volume in its leather cover, gathered his hat and pencil, and,
bidding his pupils a very good night, sped smoothly out of the room.
III
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Vision Splendid by William MacLeod Raine: kept their eyes open on their way back, but they met nobody except
a policeman swinging his club as he leaned against a lamp post and
whistled the Merry Widow waltz.
But Farnum was not satisfied. He cautioned both Sam and Mrs.
Anderson to say nothing, above all to give no names or explanation
to anybody. A whisper of the truth would bring reporters down on
them in shoals.
"You had better stay here quietly to-day," their host advised.
"I'll see you're not disturbed by the help. Sam will bring your
meals in from a restaurant. I'd say stay here as long as you like,
but it can't be done without arousing curiosity, the one thing we
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