The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Iliad by Homer: dog springs on a fawn which a hunter has hit as it was breaking
away from its covert, and killed it. Even so, O Melanippus, did
stalwart Antilochus spring upon you to strip you of your armour;
but noble Hector marked him, and came running up to him through
the thick of the battle. Antilochus, brave soldier though he was,
would not stay to face him, but fled like some savage creature
which knows it has done wrong, and flies, when it has killed a
dog or a man who is herding his cattle, before a body of men can
be gathered to attack it. Even so did the son of Nestor fly, and
the Trojans and Hector with a cry that rent the air showered
their weapons after him; nor did he turn round and stay his
 The Iliad |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Herland by Charlotte Gilman: of inventors was at hand to apply their special faculty at the
point criticized, and offer suggestions.
We had learned by this time not to open a discussion on any
of their characteristics without first priming ourselves to answer
questions about our own methods; so I kept rather quiet on this
matter of conscious improvement. We were not prepared to show
our way was better.
There was growing in our minds, at least in Jeff's and mine,
a keen appreciation of the advantages of this strange country and
its management. Terry remained critical. We laid most of it to his
nerves. He certainly was irritable.
 Herland |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Buttered Side Down by Edna Ferber: fall, looking for jobs, and thinking the city's sittin' up waitin'
for 'em. And where do they land? In the dime lodging houses,
that's where. In the navy you see the world, and it don't cost you
a cent. A guy is a fool to bury himself alive in a hole like this.
You could be seeing the world, traveling by sea from port to port,
from country to country, from ocean to ocean, amid ever-changing
scenery and climatic conditions, to see and study the habits and
conditions of the strange races----"
It rolled off his tongue with fascinating glibness. Eddie
glanced at the folder in his hand.
"I always did like the water," he said.
 Buttered Side Down |