| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Statesman by Plato: like satyrs and monkeys. In this new disguise the Sophists make their last
appearance on the scene: in the Laws Plato appears to have forgotten them,
or at any rate makes only a slight allusion to them in a single passage
(Laws).
VI. The Statesman is naturally connected with the Sophist. At first sight
we are surprised to find that the Eleatic Stranger discourses to us, not
only concerning the nature of Being and Not-being, but concerning the king
and statesman. We perceive, however, that there is no inappropriateness in
his maintaining the character of chief speaker, when we remember the close
connexion which is assumed by Plato to exist between politics and
dialectic. In both dialogues the Proteus Sophist is exhibited, first, in
Statesman |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Flower Fables by Louisa May Alcott: loved so much. "We have served you long and faithfully," said they,
"give us now our freedom, that we may learn to be beloved by the sweet
flowers we have harmed so long. Grant the little Fairy's prayer;
and let her go back to her own dear home. She has taught us that
Love is mightier than Fear. Choose the Flower crown, and we will be
the truest subjects you have ever had."
Then, amid a burst of wild, sweet music, the Frost-King placed
the Flower crown on his head, and knelt to little Violet; while far
and near, over the broad green earth, sounded the voices of flowers,
singing their thanks to the gentle Fairy, and the summer wind
was laden with perfumes, which they sent as tokens of their gratitude;
Flower Fables |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: under her legs, she comes to look into the state of things. The
web is reached, without the least difficulty, by one of the lines
of the framework, the first that offers. The Locust is then
perceived and forthwith enswathed, after which the signalling-
thread is remade, taking the place of the one which I have broken.
Along this road the Spider goes home, dragging her prey behind her.
My neighbour, the mighty Angular Epeira, with her telegraph-wire
nine feet long, has even better things in store for me. One
morning, I find her web, which is now deserted, almost intact, a
proof that the night's hunting has not been good. The animal must
be hungry. With a piece of game for a bait, I hope to bring her
The Life of the Spider |
