| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy: blame for everything, the colonel moved forward and ordered the second
squadron, that in which Rostov was serving under Denisov, to return to
the bridge.
"There, it's just as I thought," said Rostov to himself. "He
wishes to test me!" His heart contracted and the blood rushed to his
face. "Let him see whether I am a coward!" he thought.
Again on all the bright faces of the squadron the serious expression
appeared that they had worn when under fire. Rostov watched his enemy,
the colonel, closely- to find in his face confirmation of his own
conjecture, but the colonel did not once glance at Rostov, and
looked as he always did when at the front, solemn and stern. Then came
War and Peace |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Walking by Henry David Thoreau: down to a more recent time than ours. There is something
suggested by it that is a newer testament,--the gospel according
to this moment. He has not fallen astern; he has got up early and
kept up early, and to be where he is is to be in season, in the
foremost rank of time. It is an expression of the health and
soundness of Nature, a brag for all the world,--healthiness as of
a spring burst forth, a new fountain of the Muses, to celebrate
this last instant of time. Where he lives no fugitive slave laws
are passed. Who has not betrayed his master many times since last
he heard that note?
The merit of this bird's strain is in its freedom from all
Walking |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Almayer's Folly by Joseph Conrad: he stood still, fighting with his breath, as if bereft of his
senses by the intensity of his delight, she walked up to him with
quick, resolute steps, and, with the appearance of one about to
leap from a dangerous height, threw both her arms round his neck
with a sudden gesture. A small blue gleam crept amongst the dry
branches, and the crackling of reviving fire was the only sound
as they faced each other in the speechless emotion of that
meeting; then the dry fuel caught at once, and a bright hot flame
shot upwards in a blaze as high as their heads, and in its light
they saw each other's eyes.
Neither of them spoke. He was regaining his senses in a slight
Almayer's Folly |
