| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Happy Prince and Other Tales by Oscar Wilde: "And what, pray, is your idea of the duties of a devoted friend?"
asked a Green Linnet, who was sitting in a willow-tree hard by, and
had overheard the conversation.
"Yes, that is just what I want to know," said the Duck; and she
swam away to the end of the pond, and stood upon her head, in order
to give her children a good example.
"What a silly question!" cried the Water-rat. "I should expect my
devoted friend to be devoted to me, of course."
"And what would you do in return?" said the little bird, swinging
upon a silver spray, and flapping his tiny wings.
"I don't understand you," answered the Water-rat.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy: the ideal which you have made for yourself, but
what is wrong is, if on looking back, you cannot
see that you have made the least step nearer to
your ideal."
How far Tolstoy's doctrines may influence suc-
ceeding generations it is impossible to foretell;
but when time has extinguished what is merely
personal or racial, the divine spark which he re-
ceived from his great spiritual forerunners in other
times and countries will undoubtedly be found
alight. His universality enabled him to unite
The Forged Coupon |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Tao Teh King by Lao-tze: in the state; and in the kingdom.
4. How do I know that this effect is sure to hold thus all under the
sky? By this (method of observation).
55. 1. He who has in himself abundantly the attributes (of the Tao) is
like an infant. Poisonous insects will not sting him; fierce beasts
will not seize him; birds of prey will not strike him.
2. (The infant's) bones are weak and its sinews soft, but yet its
grasp is firm. It knows not yet the union of male and female, and yet
its virile member may be excited;--showing the perfection of its
physical essence. All day long it will cry without its throat
becoming hoarse;--showing the harmony (in its constitution).
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