| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Virginian by Owen Wister: than were the bluffs and flowers where he was taking his own
undirected choice of way. He carried her over ground she knew by
heart--Corncliff Mesa, Crowheart Butte, Westfall's Crossing,
Upper Canyon; open land and woodland, pines and sage-brush, all
silent and grave and lustrous in the sunshine. Once and again a
ranchman greeted her, and wondered if she had forgotten who he
was; once she passed some cow-punchers with a small herd of
steers, and they stared after her too. Bear Creek narrowed, its
mountain-sides drew near, its little falls began to rush white in
midday shadow, and the horse suddenly pricked his ears. Unguided,
he was taking this advantage to go home. Though he had made but
The Virginian |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Father Sergius by Leo Tolstoy: and blushes red in patches and becomes more pitiable than before,
so pitiable that he feels ashamed and can never forget that
crooked, kindly, submissive smile. And Sergius remembered having
seen her since then. Long after, just before he became a monk,
she had married a landowner who squandered all her fortune and
was in the habit of beating her. She had had two children, a son
and a daughter, but the son had died while still young. And
Sergius remembered having seen her very wretched. Then again he
had seen her in the monastery when she was a widow. She had been
still the same, not exactly stupid, but insipid, insignificant,
and pitiable. She had come with her daughter and her daughter's
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Ancient Regime by Charles Kingsley: kinsmen of their own. It may lead them to ask themselves why, in a
world which is governed by a just God, such great power as is
palpably theirs at present is entrusted to them, save that they may
do more work, and not less, than other men, under the penalties
pronounced against those to whom much is given, and of whom much is
required. It may lead them to discover that they are in a world
where it is not safe to sit under the tree, and let the ripe fruit
drop into your mouth; where the "competition of species" works with
ruthless energy among all ranks of being, from kings upon their
thrones to the weeds upon the waste; where "he that is not hammer,
is sure to be anvil;" and he who will not work, neither shall he
|
