The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from A Personal Record by Joseph Conrad: at Pola. It would have meant six months' extra grinding at
German, perhaps; but I was not past the age of admission, and in
other respects I was well qualified. This expedient to palliate
my folly was thought of--but not by me. I must admit that in
that respect my negative was accepted at once. That order of
feeling was comprehensible enough to the most inimical of my
critics. I was not called upon to offer explanations; but the
truth is that what I had in view was not a naval career, but the
sea. There seemed no way open to it but through France. I had
the language, at any rate, and of all the countries in Europe it
is with France that Poland has most connection. There were some
 A Personal Record |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from On Horsemanship by Xenophon: have their points of junction broad and smooth,[8] so as to bend
easily; and where the several parts fitting round the axles, being
large of aperture and not too closely packed, have greater
flexibility; whereas, if the several parts do not slide to and fro
with ease, and play into each other, that is what we call a stiff bit.
Whatever the kind of bit may be, the rider must carry out precisely
the same rules in using it, as follows, if he wishes to turn out a
horse with the qualities described. The horse's mouth is not to be
pulled back too harshly so as to make him toss his head aside, nor yet
so gently that he will not feel the pressure. But the instant he
raises his neck in answer to the pull, give him the bit at once; and
 On Horsemanship |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart: month. They won't stand for the country and the lonesomeness, I
reckon."
But with the presence of the "bunch" of servants my courage
revived, and late in the afternoon came a message from Gertrude
that she and Halsey would arrive that night at about eleven
o'clock, coming in the car from Richfield. Things were looking
up; and when Beulah, my cat, a most intelligent animal, found
some early catnip on a bank near the house and rolled in it
in a feline ecstasy, I decided that getting back to nature was
the thing to do.
While I was dressing for dinner, Liddy rapped at the door. She
 The Circular Staircase |