| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Crito by Plato: undertakes the defence of his friend and master in this particular, not to
the Athenians of his day, but to posterity and the world at large.
Whether such an incident ever really occurred as the visit of Crito and the
proposal of escape is uncertain: Plato could easily have invented far more
than that (Phaedr.); and in the selection of Crito, the aged friend, as the
fittest person to make the proposal to Socrates, we seem to recognize the
hand of the artist. Whether any one who has been subjected by the laws of
his country to an unjust judgment is right in attempting to escape, is a
thesis about which casuists might disagree. Shelley (Prose Works) is of
opinion that Socrates 'did well to die,' but not for the 'sophistical'
reasons which Plato has put into his mouth. And there would be no
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Scenes from a Courtesan's Life by Honore de Balzac: blood."
For some days past there had been an idea of attaching Lucien to the
prime minister's cabinet as his private secretary; but Madame d'Espard
brought so many persons into the field in opposition to Lucien, that
Charles X.'s Maitre Jacques hesitated to clinch the matter. Nor was
Lucien's position by any means clear; not only did the question, "What
does he live on?" on everybody's lips as the young man rose in life,
require an answer, but even benevolent curiosity--as much as
malevolent curiosity--went on from one inquiry to another, and found
more than one joint in the ambitious youth's harness.
Clotilde de Grandlieu unconsciously served as a spy for her father and
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Salome by Oscar Wilde: toujours. Mais je pense que vous avez peur de lui . . . Enfin, je
sais bien que vous avez peur de lui.
HERODE. Je n'ai pas peur de lui. Je n'ai peur de personne.
HERODIAS. Si, vous avez peur de lui. Si vous n'aviez pas peur de
lui, pourquoi ne pas le livrer aux Juifs qui depuis six mois vous le
demandent?
UN JUIF. En effet, Seigneur, il serait mieux de nous le livrer.
HERODE. Assez sur ce point. Je vous ai deje donne ma reponse. Je
ne veux pas vous le livrer. C'est un homme qui a vu Dieu.
UN JUIF. Cela, c'est impossible. Personne n'a vu Dieu depuis le
prophete Elie. Lui c'est le dernier qui ait vu Dieu. En ce temps-
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