| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Art of War by Sun Tzu: the enemy's camp and stealthily crept up to listen, until they
succeeded in catching the passwords used in the army. Then they
got on their horses again and boldly passed through the camp
under the guise of night-watchmen; and more than once, happening
to come across a soldier who was committing some breach of
discipline, they actually stopped to give the culprit a sound
cudgeling! Thus they managed to return with the fullest possible
information about the enemy's dispositions, and received warm
commendation from the Emperor, who in consequence of their report
was able to inflict a severe defeat on his adversary."]
14. Hence it is that which none in the whole army are more
The Art of War |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Extracts From Adam's Diary by Mark Twain: the Serpent informed her that "chestnut" was a figurative term
meaning an aged and mouldy joke. I turned pale at that, for I
have made many jokes to pass the weary time, and some of them could
have been of that sort, though I had honestly supposed that they
were new when I made them. She asked me if I had made one just
at the time of the catastrophe. I was obliged to admit that I had
made one to myself, though not aloud. It was this. I was thinking
about the Falls, and I said to myself, "How wonderful it is to see
that vast body of water tumble down there!" Then in an instant a
bright thought flashed into my head, and I let it fly, saying, "It
would be a deal more wonderful to see it tumble up there!"--and I
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Troll Garden and Selected Stories by Willa Cather: Nils swung himself into the saddle and trotted to the west of
the village, where the houses and gardens scattered into prairie
land and the road turned south. Far ahead of him, in the declining
light, he saw Clara Vavrika's slender figure, loitering on
horseback. He touched his mare with the whip, and shot along the
white, level road, under the reddening sky. When he overtook
Olaf's wife he saw that she had been crying. "What's the matter,
Clara Vavrika?" he asked kindly.
"Oh, I get blue sometimes. It was awfully jolly living there
with father. I wonder why I ever went away."
Nils spoke in a low, kind tone that he sometimes used with women:
The Troll Garden and Selected Stories |
