| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau: accordingly, and not according, in some respects, to my
requisitions and expectations of what they and I ought to
be, then, like a good Mussulman and fatalist, I should
endeavor to be satisfied with things as they are, and say it
is the will of God. And, above all, there is this
difference between resisting this and a purely brute or
natural force, that I can resist this with some effect; but
I cannot expect, like Orpheus, to change the nature of the
rocks and trees and beasts.
I do not wish to quarrel with any man or nation. I do
not wish to split hairs, to make fine distinctions, or set
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Camille by Alexandre Dumas: see the whole scene over again in all its imposing reality.
"Quick," said the inspector. Thereupon one of the men put out his
hand, began to unsew the shroud, and taking hold of it by one end
suddenly laid bare the face of Marguerite.
It was terrible to see, it is horrible to relate. The eyes were
nothing but two holes, the lips had disappeared, vanished, and
the white teeth were tightly set. The black hair, long and dry,
was pressed tightly about the forehead, and half veiled the green
hollows of the cheeks; and yet I recognised in this face the
joyous white and rose face that I had seen so often.
Armand, unable to turn away his eyes, had put the handkerchief to
Camille |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Hellenica by Xenophon: belonging to either satrap. Besides these there was a great cloud of
cavalry: on the right wing the squadrons of Tissaphernes, and on the
left those of Pharnabazus.
Seeing how matters lay, Dercylidas ordered the generals of brigade and
captains to form into line as quickly as possible, eight deep, placing
the light infantry on the fringe of battle, with the cavalry--such
cavalry, that is, and of such numerical strength, as he chanced to
have. Meanwhile, as general, he sacrificed.[11] During this interval
the troops from Peloponnese kept quiet in preparation as for battle.
Not so the troops from Priene and Achilleum, from the islands and the
Ionic cities, some of whom left their arms in the corn, which stood
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