| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Prince Otto by Robert Louis Stevenson: rudely, grossly presuming on his station. And perhaps a little
shiver of physical alarm mingled with his remorse, for the fellow
was very powerful and not more than half in the possession of his
senses. 'Take your hand from my rein,' he said, with a sufficient
assumption of command; and when the man, rather to his wonder, had
obeyed: 'You should understand, sir,' he added, 'that while I might
be glad to ride with you as one person of sagacity with another, and
so receive your true opinions, it would amuse me very little to hear
the empty compliments you would address to me as Prince.'
'You think I would lie, do you?' cried the man with the bottle,
purpling deeper.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Laches by Plato: all sorts, tried both amid pleasures and pains. Laches replies that this
universal courage is endurance. But courage is a good thing, and mere
endurance may be hurtful and injurious. Therefore (3) the element of
intelligence must be added. But then again unintelligent endurance may
often be more courageous than the intelligent, the bad than the good. How
is this contradiction to be solved? Socrates and Laches are not set 'to
the Dorian mode' of words and actions; for their words are all confusion,
although their actions are courageous. Still they must 'endure' in an
argument about endurance. Laches is very willing, and is quite sure that
he knows what courage is, if he could only tell.
Nicias is now appealed to; and in reply he offers a definition which he has
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from My Antonia by Willa Cather: a meeting and decided that the Norwegian graveyard could not
extend its hospitality to Mr. Shimerda.
Grandmother was indignant. `If these foreigners are so clannish,
Mr. Bushy, we'll have to have an American graveyard that will be more
liberal-minded. I'll get right after Josiah to start one in the spring.
If anything was to happen to me, I don't want the Norwegians holding
inquisitions over me to see whether I'm good enough to be laid amongst 'em.'
Soon grandfather returned, bringing with him Anton Jelinek,
and that important person, the coroner. He was a mild,
flurried old man, a Civil War veteran, with one sleeve hanging empty.
He seemed to find this case very perplexing, and said if it had not been
My Antonia |
