| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from On Revenues by Xenophon: hitting upon a productive lode will be the means of discovering what
is advantageous to all. Or, supposing two or three, or possibly the
half of them, hit upon a lode, clearly these several operations will
proportionally be more remunerative still. That the whole ten will
fail is not at all in accordance with what we should expect from the
history of the past. It is possible, of course, for private persons to
combine in the same way,[35] and share their fortunes and minimise
their risks. Nor need you apprehend, sirs, that a state mining
company, established on this principle, will prove a thorn in the
side[36] of the private owner, or the private owner prove injurious to
the state. But rather like allies who render each other stronger the
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbot: and that I could not do better. I must be sentenced to
perpetual imprisonment; but if the Truth intended that I should emerge
from prison and evangelize the world, the Truth might be trusted
to bring that result to pass. Meanwhile I should be subjected
to no discomfort that was not necessary to preclude escape, and,
unless I forfeited the privilege by misconduct, I should be
occasionally permitted to see my brother who had preceded me
to my prison.
Seven years have elapsed and I am still a prisoner, and
-- if I except the occasional visits of my brother --
debarred from all companionship save that of my jailers.
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Altar of the Dead by Henry James: So he remained an instant, staring up at his shrine. "They say
there's a gap in the array - they say it's not full, complete.
Just one more," he went on, softly - "isn't that what you wanted?
Yes, one more, one more."
"Ah no more - no more!" she wailed, as with a quick new horror of
it, under her breath.
"Yes, one more," he repeated, simply; "just one!" And with this
his head dropped on her shoulder; she felt that in his weakness he
had fainted. But alone with him in the dusky church a great dread
was on her of what might still happen, for his face had the
whiteness of death.
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