The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Soul of Man by Oscar Wilde: problem then is, why do not the public become more civilised? They
have the capacity. What stops them?
The thing that stops them, it must be said again, is their desire
to exercise authority over the artist and over works of art. To
certain theatres, such as the Lyceum and the Haymarket, the public
seem to come in a proper mood. In both of these theatres there
have been individual artists, who have succeeded in creating in
their audiences - and every theatre in London has its own audience
- the temperament to which Art appeals. And what is that
temperament? It is the temperament of receptivity. That is all.
If a man approaches a work of art with any desire to exercise
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Wrecker by Stevenson & Osbourne: civilization; you can't think how it's refined and purified me,
how it's appealed to my spiritual nature; and I want to tell you
that I would die at your door like a dog."
I don't know what answer I tried to make, but he cut me short.
"Let me say it out!" he cried. "I revere you for your whole-
souled devotion to art; I can't rise to it, but there's a strain of
poetry in my nature, Loudon, that responds to it. I want you to
carry it out, and I mean to help you."
"Pinkerton, what nonsense is this?" I interrupted.
"Now don't get mad, Loudon; this is a plain piece of business,"
said he; "it's done every day; it's even typical. How are all
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The White Moll by Frank L. Packard: pedestrian's footsteps ring and echo hollow on the pavement, where
but a few hours before the traffic-squad struggled valiantly, and
sometimes vainly, with the congestion - but that was all.
She could make out the Hayden-Bond mansion on the corner ahead of
her now, and now she was abreast of the rather ornate and attached
little building, that was obviously the garage. She drew the key
from her pocket, and glanced around her. There was no one in sight.
She stepped swiftly to the small door that flanked the big double
ones where the cars went in and out, opened it, closed it behind
her, and locked it.
For a moment, her eyes unaccustomed to the darkness, she could see
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