| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Tono Bungay by H. G. Wells: a sulky silence, and to take whatever consequences might follow.
IX
The powers of justice in Bladesover made an extraordinary mess
of my case.
I have regretfully to admit that the Honourable Beatrice Normandy
did, at the age of ten, betray me, abandon me, and lie most
abominably about me. She was, as a matter of fact,
panic-stricken about me, conscience stricken too; she bolted from
the very thought of my being her affianced lover and so forth,
from the faintest memory of kissing; she was indeed altogether
disgraceful and human in her betrayal. She and her half-brother
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol: asked for an inclusive definition also of his moral personality. That
he is no hero compounded of virtues and perfections must be already
clear. Then WHAT is he? A villain? Why should we call him a villain?
Why should we be so hard upon a fellow man? In these days our villains
have ceased to exist. Rather it would be fairer to call him an
ACQUIRER. The love of acquisition, the love of gain, is a fault
common to many, and gives rise to many and many a transaction of the
kind generally known as "not strictly honourable." True, such a
character contains an element of ugliness, and the same reader who, on
his journey through life, would sit at the board of a character of
this kind, and spend a most agreeable time with him, would be the
Dead Souls |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas: penetrated into the interior. The door had been broken open
by hatchets. A post of four men slept in safety in a corner,
so certain were they that the attack would not take place on
that side.
"Will not these men be in your way?" said Monk to Athos.
"On the contrary, monsieur, they will assist in rolling out
the barrels, if your honor will permit them."
"You are right."
The post, though fast asleep, roused up at the first steps
of the three visitors amongst the briars and grass that
invaded the porch. Monk gave the password, and penetrated
Ten Years Later |
