| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: trading part upon the coast of Guinea; and they offered me that I
should have my equal share of the negroes, without providing any
part of the stock.
This was a fair proposal, it must be confessed, had it been made to
any one that had not had a settlement and a plantation of his own
to look after, which was in a fair way of coming to be very
considerable, and with a good stock upon it; but for me, that was
thus entered and established, and had nothing to do but to go on as
I had begun, for three or four years more, and to have sent for the
other hundred pounds from England; and who in that time, and with
that little addition, could scarce have failed of being worth three
Robinson Crusoe |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Miracle Mongers and Their Methods by Harry Houdini: gentlemen of Philadelphia, that his
BENEFIT will take place at the ARCH
STREET THEATRE, on Saturday evening
next, 4th February, when will be
presented a variety of entertainments aided
by the whole strength of the company.
Mr. H. in addition to his former
experiments will exhibit several fiery feats,
pronounced by Mons. Chabert an
IMPOSSIBILITY. He will give a COMPLETE
explanation by illustrations of the
Miracle Mongers and Their Methods |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Bureaucracy by Honore de Balzac: heart gloomy and melancholy, like most of the great comic players.
Launched into the world of actors and actresses, writers, artists, and
certain women of uncertain means, he lived well, went to the theatre
without paying, gambled at Frascati, and often won. Artist by nature
and really profound, though by flashes only, he swayed to and fro in
life like a swing, without thinking or caring of a time when the cord
would break. The liveliness of his wit and the prodigal flow of his
ideas made him acceptable to all persons who took pleasure in the
lights of intellect; but none of his friends liked him. Incapable of
checking a witty saying, he would scarify his two neighbors before a
dinner was half over. In spite of his skin-deep gayety, a secret
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