| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad: looking at the door of the parlour fixedly:
"You don't think perhaps of staying in England for good?"
The stranger gave her again a silent smile. He had a kindly mouth
and probing eyes. And he shook his head a little sadly, it seemed.
"My husband will see you through all right. Meantime for a few
days you couldn't do better than take lodgings with Mr Giugliani.
Continental Hotel it's called. Private. It's quiet. My husband
will take you there."
"A good idea," said the thin, dark man, whose glance had hardened
suddenly.
"You knew Mr Verloc before - didn't you? Perhaps in France?"
The Secret Agent |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: your eyes look sad, and when I touched the cushion, just now,
I found a tear on it. You've had a great deal to bear,
and had to bear it all alone. What a selfish beast I've been!"
And Laurie pulled his own hair, with a remorseful look.
But Jo only turned over the traitorous pillow, and answered,
in a tone which she tried to make more cheerful, "No, I had Father
and Mother to help me, and the dear babies to comfort me, and the
thought that you and Amy were safe and happy, to make the troubles
here easier to bear. I am lonely, sometimes, but I dare say it's
good for me, and..."
"You never shall be again," broke in Laurie, putting his arm
Little Women |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Across The Plains by Robert Louis Stevenson: blind. To those lost pains, suppose you attain the highest pitch
of merit, posterity may possibly do justice; suppose, as is so
probable, you fall by even a hair's breadth of the highest, rest
certain they shall never be observed. Under the shadow of this
cold thought, alone in his studio, the artist must preserve from
day to day his constancy to the ideal. It is this which makes his
life noble; it is by this that the practice of his craft
strengthens and matures his character; it is for this that even the
serious countenance of the great emperor was turned approvingly (if
only for a moment) on the followers of Apollo, and that sternly
gentle voice bade the artist cherish his art.
|
