| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Golden Sayings of Epictetus by Epictetus: what now is, not to what is not, but to ehat is not now.
"Shall I then no longer be?"
Not so; thou wilt be; but something different, of which the
World now hath need. For thou too wert born not when thou
chosest, but when the World had need of thee.
CXXXI
Wherefore a good man and true, bearing in mind who he is and
whence he came and from whom he sprang, cares only how he may
fill his post with due discipline and obedience to God.
Wilt thou that I continue to live? Then will I live, as one
that is free and noble, as Thou wouldst have me. For Thow hast
The Golden Sayings of Epictetus |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Tattine by Ruth Ogden [Mrs. Charles W. Ide]: that it is their nature to do."
"And yet, Grandma, I am not allowed to do naughty things because it is my
nature to."
"Ah, but, Tattine, there lies the beautiful difference. You can be reasoned
with, and made to understand things, so that you can change your nature--I
mean the part of you that makes you sometimes love to do naughty things.
"There's another part of your nature that is dear and good …nd sweet, and
doesn't need to be changed at all. But Betsy and Doctor can only be trained in
a few ways, and never to really change their nature.
"Setters have hunted rabbits always, kittens have preyed upon birds, and
donkeys, as a rule, have stood still whenever they wanted to."
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton: to get two or three amusing men to leaven the lump. We might go
on to a boite afterward, if you're bored. Unless the dancing
amuses you more ...."
She understood that he had decided to hasten his departure
rather than linger on in uncertainty; she also remembered having
heard the Ascots' youngest daughter, Lady Joan Senechal, spoken
of as one of the prettiest girls of the season; and she recalled
the almost exaggerated warmth of the Ambassador's greeting at
the private view.
"Of course I'll come, Streff dear!" she cried, with an effort at
gaiety that sounded successful to her own strained ears, and
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