| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce: "that is not so bad; but I do not wish to be shot. No; I
will not be shot; that is not fair."
He was not conscious of an effort, but a sharp pain in his
wrist apprised him that he was trying to free his hands. He
gave the struggle his attention, as an idler might observe
the feat of a juggler, without interest in the outcome. What
splendid effort! -- what magnificent, what superhuman
strength! Ah, that was a fine endeavor! Bravo! The cord
fell away; his arms parted and floated upward, the hands
dimly seen on each side in the growing light. He watched
them with a new interest as first one and then the other
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from At the Sign of the Cat & Racket by Honore de Balzac: nature, by ending in clear and serene weather. Madame Roguin displayed
so much address in her harangue, she was able to touch so many strings
in the dry hearts of Monsieur and Madame Guillaume, that at last she
hit on one which she could work upon. At this strange period commerce
and finance were more than ever possessed by the crazy mania for
seeking alliance with rank; and the generals of the Empire took full
advantage of this desire. Monsieur Guillaume, as a singular exception,
opposed this deplorable craving. His favorite axioms were that, to
secure happiness, a woman must marry a man of her own class; that
every one was punished sooner or later for having climbed too high;
that love could so little endure under the worries of a household,
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Iliad by Homer: the other Achaeans followed him gladly. When they reached the
strongly built quarters of the son of Tydeus, they tied the
horses with thongs of leather to the manger, where the steeds of
Diomed stood eating their sweet corn, but Ulysses hung the
blood-stained spoils of Dolon at the stern of his ship, that they
might prepare a sacred offering to Minerva. As for themselves,
they went into the sea and washed the sweat from their bodies,
and from their necks and thighs. When the sea-water had taken all
the sweat from off them, and had refreshed them, they went into
the baths and washed themselves. After they had so done and had
anointed themselves with oil, they sat down to table, and drawing
The Iliad |
