| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from A Drama on the Seashore by Honore de Balzac: attribute of all true strength, that forehead furrowed with wrinkles,
was it in harmony with the heart within? Why was this man in the
granite? Why was the granite in the man? Which was the man, which was
the granite? A world of fancies came into our minds. As our guide had
prophesied, we passed in silence, rapidly; when he met us he saw our
emotion of mingled terror and astonishment, but he made no boast of
the truth of his prediction; he merely said,--
"You have seen him."
"Who is that man?"
"They call him the Man of the Vow."
You can imagine the movement with which our two heads turned at once
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Some Reminiscences by Joseph Conrad: somewhere in the neighbourhood of Bar-le-Duc. His admiration of
the great Emperor was unreserved in everything but expression.
Like the religion of earnest men, it was too profound a sentiment
to be displayed before a world of little faith. Apart from that
he seemed as completely devoid of military anecdotes as though he
had hardly ever seen a soldier in his life. Proud of his
decorations earned before he was twenty-five, he refused to wear
the ribbons at the buttonhole in the manner practised to this day
in Europe and even was unwilling to display the insignia on
festive occasions, as though he wished to conceal them in the
fear of appearing boastful. "It is enough that I have them," he
Some Reminiscences |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Lemorne Versus Huell by Elizabeth Drew Stoddard: strengthening the larynx with applications of brine. When the
concert was half over, and the audience were making the usual hum
and stir, I saw Mr. Uxbridge against a pillar, with his hands
incased in pearl-colored gloves, and holding a shiny hat. He turned
half away when he caught my eye, and then darted toward me.
"You have not been much more interested in the music than you are
in the lawsuit," he said, seating himself beside me.
"The *tutoyer* of the Italian voice is agreeable, however."
"It makes one dreamy."
"A child."
"Yes, a child; not a man nor a woman."
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