| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Letters from England by Elizabeth Davis Bancroft: a few evenings since at the Palace. She was a woman of strong
intellect and character, and her brother, the King, was very much
attached to her as a counsellor and friend. . . . There were more
than 100 Americans to be presented on New Year's Day at Paris, and,
as Madam Adelaide's death took place without a day's warning, you
can imagine the embroidered coats and finery which were laid on the
shelf.
Saturday, January 7th
Yesterday, my dear son, I had a delightful dinner at the dear Miss
Berrys. They drove to the door on Thursday and left a little note
to say, "Can you forgive a poor sick soul for not coming to you
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Turn of the Screw by Henry James: They were never importunate and yet never listless.
My attention to them all really went to seeing them amuse
themselves immensely without me: this was a spectacle they seemed
actively to prepare and that engaged me as an active admirer.
I walked in a world of their invention--they had no occasion whatever
to draw upon mine; so that my time was taken only with being,
for them, some remarkable person or thing that the game of
the moment required and that was merely, thanks to my superior,
my exalted stamp, a happy and highly distinguished sinecure.
I forget what I was on the present occasion; I only remember
that I was something very important and very quiet and that Flora
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Timaeus by Plato: orbits seven stars. First, there was the moon in the orbit nearest the
earth, and next the sun, in the second orbit above the earth; then came the
morning star and the star sacred to Hermes, moving in orbits which have an
equal swiftness with the sun, but in an opposite direction; and this is the
reason why the sun and Hermes and Lucifer overtake and are overtaken by
each other. To enumerate the places which he assigned to the other stars,
and to give all the reasons why he assigned them, although a secondary
matter, would give more trouble than the primary. These things at some
future time, when we are at leisure, may have the consideration which they
deserve, but not at present.
Now, when all the stars which were necessary to the creation of time had
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