| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx: the union of the bourgeoisie, which class, in order to attain its
own political ends, is compelled to set the whole proletariat in
motion, and is moreover yet, for a time, able to do so. At this
stage, therefore, the proletarians do not fight their enemies,
but the enemies of their enemies, the remnants of absolute
monarchy, the landowners, the non-industrial bourgeois, the petty
bourgeoisie. Thus the whole historical movement is concentrated
in the hands of the bourgeoisie; every victory so obtained is a
victory for the bourgeoisie.
But with the development of industry the proletariat not only
increases in number; it becomes concentrated in greater masses,
The Communist Manifesto |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther: value cannot be too highly appraised. It will take me to Christ every time.
VERSE 24. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto
Christ.
This simile of the schoolmaster is striking. Schoolmasters are
indispensable. But show me a pupil who loves his schoolmaster. How
little love is lost upon them the Jews showed by their attitude toward
Moses. They would have been glad to stone Moses to death. (Ex. 17:4.) You
cannot expect anything else. How can a pupil love a teacher who frustrates
his desires? And if the pupil disobeys, the schoolmaster whips him, and
the pupil has to like it and even kiss the rod with which he was beaten. Do
you think the schoolboy feels good about it? As soon as the teacher turns
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Falk by Joseph Conrad: cabin, only seeking to avoid the sight of Hermann's
raving. It was ridiculous, and was made almost
terrible by the stillness of every other person pres-
ent. It was contemptible, and was made appalling
by the man's overmastering horror of this awful
sincerity, coming to him suddenly, with the confes-
sion of such a fact. He walked with great strides;
he gasped. He wanted to know from Falk how
dared he to come and tell him this? Did he think
himself a proper person to be sitting in this cabin
where his wife and children lived? Tell his niece!
Falk |
