| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Misalliance by George Bernard Shaw: shopkeeper. I have to carry him about with me whether I like it or
not. I have to pay for his clothes, though I hate the cut of them:
especially the waistcoat. I have to look at him in the glass while
I'm shaving. I loathe him because hes a living lie. My soul's not
like that: it's like yours. I want to make a fool of myself. About
you. Will you let me?
LINA. _[very calm]_ How much will you pay?
TARLETON. Nothing. But I'll throw as many sovereigns as you like
into the sea to shew you that I'm in earnest.
LINA. Are those your usual terms?
TARLETON. No. I never made that bid before.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Master Key by L. Frank Baum: pirates had clung to his left leg and been carried some distance
through the air.
"Have you a rope?" he asked.
"No," was the answer; "but there are plenty of long, tough vines
growing on the island that are just as strong and pliable as ropes."
"Then, if you are willing to run the chances," decided the boy, "I
will make the attempt to save you. But I must warn you that in case I
find I can not support the weight of your bodies I shall drop one or
both of you into the sea."
They looked grave at this prospect, but the biggest one said:
"We would soon meet death from starvation if you left us here on the
The Master Key |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Gorgias by Plato: we constantly find them recurring in reviews and newspapers, and still
oftener in private conversation.
We may further observe that the art of government, while in some respects
tending to improve, has in others a tendency to degenerate, as institutions
become more popular. Governing for the people cannot easily be combined
with governing by the people: the interests of classes are too strong for
the ideas of the statesman who takes a comprehensive view of the whole.
According to Socrates the true governor will find ruin or death staring him
in the face, and will only be induced to govern from the fear of being
governed by a worse man than himself (Republic). And in modern times,
though the world has grown milder, and the terrible consequences which
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