| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Theaetetus by Plato: SOCRATES: Yes, Theaetetus; and there are plenty of other proofs which will
show that motion is the source of what is called being and becoming, and
inactivity of not-being and destruction; for fire and warmth, which are
supposed to be the parent and guardian of all other things, are born of
movement and of friction, which is a kind of motion;--is not this the
origin of fire?
THEAETETUS: It is.
SOCRATES: And the race of animals is generated in the same way?
THEAETETUS: Certainly.
SOCRATES: And is not the bodily habit spoiled by rest and idleness, but
preserved for a long time by motion and exercise?
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Vailima Letters by Robert Louis Stevenson: biscuits on the verandah, and marching off at last in single
file for Apia. Briefly, it is not much wonder if your letter
and my whole mail was left at the cottage, and I have no
means of seeing or answering particulars.
The whole thing was nothing but a bottomless scare; it was
OBVIOUSLY so; you couldn't make a child believe it was
anything else, but it has made the Consuls sit up. My own
private scares were really abominably annoying; as for
instance after I had got to sleep for the ninth time perhaps
- and that was no easy matter either, for I had a crick in my
neck so agonising that I had to sleep sitting up - I heard
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Off on a Comet by Jules Verne: period of our sojourn in this lone world of ours; our preserved
meat is already cooked; we shall be able to dispense with all
fuel for cooking purposes. All that we require is warmth--
warmth for ourselves; let us secure that, and all may be well.
Now, I do not entertain a doubt but that the warmth we require
is resident in the bowels of this mountain on which we are living;
to the depth of those bowels we must penetrate; there we shall
obtain the warmth which is indispensable to our very existence."
His tone, quite as much as his words, restored confidence to many
of his people, who were already yielding to a feeling of despair.
The count and the lieutenant fervently, but silently, grasped his hand.
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