| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Ion by Plato: good ideas about Homer as I have, or as many.
SOCRATES: I am glad to hear you say so, Ion; I see that you will not
refuse to acquaint me with them.
ION: Certainly, Socrates; and you really ought to hear how exquisitely I
render Homer. I think that the Homeridae should give me a golden crown.
SOCRATES: I shall take an opportunity of hearing your embellishments of
him at some other time. But just now I should like to ask you a question:
Does your art extend to Hesiod and Archilochus, or to Homer only?
ION: To Homer only; he is in himself quite enough.
SOCRATES: Are there any things about which Homer and Hesiod agree?
ION: Yes; in my opinion there are a good many.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Hated Son by Honore de Balzac: each other, when all seems so abundant, the breeze so playful, the
flowers so many that their fragrance mingles and their buds interlace,
--well, then I am happy, for I see what is passing in me. At church
when the organ plays and the clergy respond, there are two distinct
songs speaking to each other,--the human voice and the music. Well,
then, too, I am happy; that harmony echoes in my breast. I pray with a
pleasure which stirs my blood."
While listening to his daughter, Beauvouloir examined her with
sagacious eyes; those eyes seemed almost stupid from the force of his
rushing thoughts, as the water of a cascade seems motionless. He
raised the veil of flesh which hid the secret springs by which the
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Reef by Edith Wharton: him forbade her to attribute wholly to filial affection.
In the early days, when she was still questioning the Sphinx
instead of trying to find an answer to it, she ventured to
tax her husband with his inconsistency.
"You say your mother won't like it if I call on that amusing
little woman who came here the other day, and was let in by
mistake; but Madame de Chantelle tells me she lives with her
husband, and when mother refused to visit Kitty Mayne you
said----"
Mr. Leath's smile arrested her. "My dear child, I don't
pretend to apply the principles of logic to my poor mother's
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