| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Wheels of Chance by H. G. Wells: which, somehow, terminated on the green, Hoopdriver mounted, and
with a stately and cautious restraint in his pace, and a
dignified curvature of path, began his great Cycling Tour along
the Southern Coast.
There is only one phrase to describe his course at this stage,
and that is--voluptuous curves. He did not ride fast, he did not
ride straight, an exacting critic might say he did not ride well-
-but he rode generously, opulently, using the whole road and even
nibbling at the footpath. The excitement never flagged. So far he
had never passed or been passed by anything, but as yet the day
was young and the road was clear. He doubted his steering so much
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Sophist by Plato: morals will be insoluble puzzles to us.
The influence of opposites is felt in practical life. The understanding
sees one side of a question only--the common sense of mankind joins one of
two parties in politics, in religion, in philosophy. Yet, as everybody
knows, truth is not wholly the possession of either. But the characters of
men are one-sided and accept this or that aspect of the truth. The
understanding is strong in a single abstract principle and with this lever
moves mankind. Few attain to a balance of principles or recognize truly
how in all human things there is a thesis and antithesis, a law of action
and of reaction. In politics we require order as well as liberty, and have
to consider the proportions in which under given circumstances they may be
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Distinguished Provincial at Paris by Honore de Balzac: him to you; you are so beautiful to-night that you put the Complete
Guide to Etiquette out of a man's head----"
"Is he so rich that he can afford to write poetry?" asked Florine.
"Poor as Job," said Lucien.
"It is a great temptation for some of us," said the actress.
Just then the author of the play suddenly entered, and Lucien beheld
M. du Bruel, a short, attenuated young man in an overcoat, a composite
human blend of the jack-in-office, the owner of house-property, and
the stockbroker.
"Florine, child," said this personage, "are you sure of your part, eh?
No slips of memory, you know. And mind that scene in the second act,
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