| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad: England being our only refuge! So much the worse. Capua! What do
we want with refuges? Here you talk, print, plot, and do nothing.
I daresay it's very convenient for such Karl Yundts."
He shrugged his shoulders slightly, then added with the same
leisurely assurance: "To break up the superstition and worship of
legality should be our aim. Nothing would please me more than to
see Inspector Heat and his likes take to shooting us down in broad
daylight with the approval of the public. Half our battle would be
won then; the disintegration of the old morality would have set in
in its very temple. That is what you ought to aim at. But you
revolutionises will never understand that. You plan the future,
The Secret Agent |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Betty Zane by Zane Grey: her own race for life. I knew these stories by heart when a child.
Two years ago my mother came to me with an old note book which had been
discovered in some rubbish that had been placed in the yard to burn. The book
had probably been hidden in an old picture frame for many years. It belonged
to my great-grandfather, Col. Ebenezer Zane. From its faded and time-worn
pages I have taken the main facts of my story. My regret is that a worthier
pen than mine has not had this wealth of material.
In this busy progressive age there are no heroes of the kind so dear to all
lovers of chivalry and romance. There are heroes, perhaps, but they are the
patient sad-faced kind, of whom few take cognizance as they hurry onward. But
cannot we all remember some one who suffered greatly, who accomplished great
Betty Zane |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Egmont by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe: idol of their hearts.
Regent. He has never assumed the least disguise, and carries himself as if
no one had a right to call him to account. He still bears the name of
Egmont. Count Egmont is the title by which he loves to hear himself
addressed, as though he would fain be reminded that his ancestors were
masters of Guelderland. Why does he not assume his proper title,--Prince
of Gaure? What object has he in view? Would he again revive
extinguished claims?
Machiavel. I hold him for a faithful servant of the king.
Regent. Were he so inclined, what important service could he not render to
the government? Whereas, now, without benefiting himself, he has caused
Egmont |
