| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin: perished in numbers, leaving many helpless children unprovided for.
The sight of their miserable situation inspir'd the benevolent heart
of Mr. Whitefield with the idea of building an Orphan House there,
in which they might be supported and educated. Returning northward,
he preach'd up this charity, and made large collections,
for his eloquence had a wonderful power over the hearts and purses
of his hearers, of which I myself was an instance.
I did not disapprove of the design, but, as Georgia was then
destitute of materials and workmen, and it was proposed to send
them from Philadelphia at a great expense, I thought it would have
been better to have built the house here, and brought the children
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Falk by Joseph Conrad: he gasped. He wanted to know from Falk how
dared he to come and tell him this? Did he think
himself a proper person to be sitting in this cabin
where his wife and children lived? Tell his niece!
Expected him to tell his niece! His own brother's
daughter! Shameless! Did I ever hear tell of such
impudence?--he appealed to me. "This man here
ought to have gone and hidden himself out of sight
instead of . . ."
"But it's a great misfortune for me. But it's a
great misfortune for me," Falk would ejaculate
Falk |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from On Horsemanship by Xenophon: spring or downward jump.[4]
[4] Lit. "in making these jumps, springs, and leaps across or up or
down."
To face a steep incline, you must first teach him on soft ground, and
finally, when he is accustomed to that, he will much prefer the
downward to the upward slope for a fast pace. And as to the
apprehension, which some people entertain, that a horse may dislocate
the shoulder in galloping down an incline, it should encourage them to
learn that the Persians and Odrysians all run races down precipitous
slopes;[5] and their horses are every bit as sound as our own.[6]
[5] Cf. "Anab." IV. viii. 28; and so the Georgians to this day
On Horsemanship |
