| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Reason Discourse by Rene Descartes: am quite willing it should be known that the little I have hitherto
learned is almost nothing in comparison with that of which I am ignorant,
and to the knowledge of which I do not despair of being able to attain;
for it is much the same with those who gradually discover truth in the
sciences, as with those who when growing rich find less difficulty in
making great acquisitions, than they formerly experienced when poor in
making acquisitions of much smaller amount. Or they may be compared to the
commanders of armies, whose forces usually increase in proportion to their
victories, and who need greater prudence to keep together the residue of
their troops after a defeat than after a victory to take towns and
provinces. For he truly engages in battle who endeavors to surmount all
Reason Discourse |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Tales and Fantasies by Robert Louis Stevenson: and it was vacant. A devil of dumbness had him by the
throat; the devil of terror babbled in his ears; and
suddenly, without a word uttered, with no conscious purpose
formed in his will, John whipped about, tumbled over the
roadside wall, and began running for his life across the
fallows.
He had not gone far, he was not past the midst of the first
afield, when his whole brain thundered within him, 'Fool!
You have your watch!' The shock stopped him, and he faced
once more toward the cab. The driver was leaning over the
wall, brandishing his whip, his face empurpled, roaring like
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis: disgust me with smoking."
"Oh, I do wish you would! It isn't that I care, but honestly, George, it is
so bad for you to smoke so much. Don't you think you could reduce the amount?
And George--I notice now, when you come home from these lodges and all, that
sometimes you smell of whisky. Dearie, you know I don't worry so much about
the moral side of it, but you have a weak stomach and you can't stand all this
drinking."
"Weak stomach, hell! I guess I can carry my booze about as well as most
folks!"
"Well, I do think you ought to be careful. Don't you see, dear, I don't want
you to get sick."
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