| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Economist by Xenophon: pointing out analogies[26] to what I know, persuade me that I really
know some things which hitherto, as I believed, I had no knowledge of.
[23] Or, "whose skill in farming is proverbial."
[24] Lit. "Is questioning after all a kind of teaching?" See Plat.
"Meno"; "Mem." IV. vi. 15.
[25] It appears, then, that the Xenophontean Socrates has {episteme}
of a sort.
[26] Or, "a series of resemblances," "close parallels," reading
{epideiknus}: or if with Breit. {apodeiknus}, transl. "by proving
such or such a thing is like some other thing known to me
already."
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Symposium by Plato: repeated was that of Pausanias. Phaedrus, he said, the argument has not
been set before us, I think, quite in the right form;--we should not be
called upon to praise Love in such an indiscriminate manner. If there were
only one Love, then what you said would be well enough; but since there are
more Loves than one,--should have begun by determining which of them was to
be the theme of our praises. I will amend this defect; and first of all I
will tell you which Love is deserving of praise, and then try to hymn the
praiseworthy one in a manner worthy of him. For we all know that Love is
inseparable from Aphrodite, and if there were only one Aphrodite there
would be only one Love; but as there are two goddesses there must be two
Loves. And am I not right in asserting that there are two goddesses? The
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Country Doctor by Honore de Balzac: result--the condition of things in which schemes for power and wealth
are concealed by the most charming frivolity, and lurk beneath the
sentimental transports that take the place of enthusiasm. The
simplest-natured woman in Paris always keeps a clear head even in the
intoxication of happiness.
"This atmosphere was bound to affect my opinions and my conduct. The
errors that have poisoned my life would have lain lightly on many a
conscience, but we in the South have a religious faith that leads us
to believe in a future life, and in the truths set forth by the
Catholic Church. These beliefs give depth and gravity to every
feeling, and to remorse a terrible and lasting power.
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