| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Meno by Plato: the principle of ancient philosophy which is most apparent in it is
scepticism; we must doubt nearly every traditional or received notion, that
we may hold fast one or two. The being of God in a personal or impersonal
form was a mental necessity to the first thinkers of modern times: from
this alone all other ideas could be deduced. There had been an obscure
presentiment of 'cognito, ergo sum' more than 2000 years previously. The
Eleatic notion that being and thought were the same was revived in a new
form by Descartes. But now it gave birth to consciousness and self-
reflection: it awakened the 'ego' in human nature. The mind naked and
abstract has no other certainty but the conviction of its own existence.
'I think, therefore I am;' and this thought is God thinking in me, who has
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Aeroplanes and Dirigibles of War by Frederick A. Talbot: adequate for reconnoitring in the British and French armies, the
German authorities maintained that it was not satisfactory in
anything but calm weather. Accordingly scientific initiative was
stimulated with a view to the evolution of a superior vessel.
These endeavours culminated in the Parseval-Siegsfeld captive
balloon, which has a quaint appearance. It has the form of a
bulky cylinder with hemispherical extremities. At one end of the
balloon there is a surrounding outer bag, reminiscent of a
cancerous growth. The lower end of this is open. This
attachment serves the purpose of a ballonet. The wind blowing
against the opening, which faces it, charges the ballonet with
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Iliad by Homer: clear sky when Jove is brewing a gale--even with such panic
stricken rout did the Trojans now fly, and there was no order in
their going. Hector's fleet horses bore him and his armour out of
the fight, and he left the Trojan host penned in by the deep
trench against their will. Many a yoke of horses snapped the pole
of their chariots in the trench and left their master's car
behind them. Patroclus gave chase, calling impetuously on the
Danaans and full of fury against the Trojans, who, being now no
longer in a body, filled all the ways with their cries of panic
and rout; the air was darkened with the clouds of dust they
raised, and the horses strained every nerve in their flight from
The Iliad |
