| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Lay Morals by Robert Louis Stevenson: hard if we cannot follow the demonstration. The longest and
most abstruse flight of a philosopher becomes clear and
shallow, in the flash of a moment, when we suddenly perceive
the aspect and drift of his intention. The longest argument
is but a finger pointed; once we get our own finger rightly
parallel, and we see what the man meant, whether it be a new
star or an old street-lamp. And briefly, if a saying is hard
to understand, it is because we are thinking of something
else.
But to be a true disciple is to think of the same things as
our prophet, and to think of different things in the same
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Adam Bede by George Eliot: knowledge that puffeth up.
The third beginner was a much more promising pupil. He was a tall
but thin and wiry man, nearly as old as Brimstone, with a very
pale face and hands stained a deep blue. He was a dyer, who in
the course of dipping homespun wool and old women's petticoats had
got fired with the ambition to learn a great deal more about the
strange secrets of colour. He had already a high reputation in
the district for his dyes, and he was bent on discovering some
method by which he could reduce the expense of crimsons and
scarlets. The druggist at Treddleston had given him a notion that
he might save himself a great deal of labour and expense if he
Adam Bede |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Bucky O'Connor by William MacLeod Raine: "Anderson--a good plain name. I wonder, now, why you changed it?"
Bucky's innocent eyes questioned him blandly as he drew from his
pocket a little box and tossed it on the table. "Open that box
for me, Mr. Anderson. Who knows? It might explain a heap of
things to us."
With trembling fingers the big coward fumbled at the string. With
all his fluent will he longed to resist, but the compelling eyes
that met his so steadily were not to be resisted. Slowly he
unwrapped the paper and took the lid from the little box, inside
of which was coiled up a thin gold chain with locket pendant.
"Be seated," ordered Bucky sternly, and after the man had found a
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