| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Vendetta by Honore de Balzac: opinion, were renewing many of the deplorable scenes which stain the
history of all countries in times of civil or religious wars.
Children, young girls, old men shared the monarchial fever to which
the country was then a victim. Discord glided beneath all roofs;
distrust dyed with its gloomy colors the words and the actions of the
most intimate friends.
Ginevra Piombo loved Napoleon to idolatry; how, then, could she hate
him? The emperor was her compatriot and the benefactor of her father.
The Baron di Piombo was among those of Napoleon's devoted servants who
had co-operated most effectually in the return from Elba. Incapable of
denying his political faith, anxious even to confess it, the old baron
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy: light from beneath, which shone over the ceiling of the room,
came, in place of the usual babble, only the reduced clatter and
quick speech which were the result of necessity rather than
choice.
Whilst he thus stood, waiting for the expiration of the few
minutes that were wanting to the time for his catching the train,
a light tapping upon the door mingled with the other sounds that
reached his ears. It was so faint at first that the outer noises
were almost sufficient to drown it. Finding it repeated Knight
crossed the lobby, crowded with books and rubbish, and opened the
door.
A Pair of Blue Eyes |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy: is my first contention.
In the second place, I think that of late years, through various
reasons which I need not enter, but among which the
above-mentioned laxity of opinion in society and the frequent
idealization of the subject in current literature and painting
may be mentioned, conjugal infidelity has become more common and
is considered less reprehensible. I am of opinion that this is
not right. The origin of the evil is twofold. It is due, in the
first place, to a natural instinct, and, in the second, to the
elevation of this instinct to a place to which it does not
rightly belong. This being so, the evil can only be remedied by
The Kreutzer Sonata |
