| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from King Henry VI by William Shakespeare: You speedy helpers, that are substitutes
Under the lordly monarch of the north,
Appear and aid me in this enterprise.
[Enter Fiends.]
This speedy and quick appearance argues proof
Of your accustom'd diligence to me.
Now, ye familiar spirits, that are cull'd
Out of the powerful regions under earth,
Help me this once, that France may get the field.
[They walk and speak not.]
O, hold me not with silence over-long!
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Fisherman's Luck by Henry van Dyke: content with life and friendship.
The order in which you set out upon a talk, the path which you
pursue, the rules which you observe or disregard, make but little
difference in the end. You may follow the advice of Immanuel Kant
if you like, and begin with the weather and the roads, and go on to
current events, and wind up with history, art, and philosophy. Or
you may reverse the order if you prefer, like that admirable talker
Clarence King, who usually set sail on some highly abstract paradox,
such as "Civilization is a nervous disease," and landed in a tale of
adventure in Mexico or the Rocky Mountains. Or you may follow the
example of Edward Eggleston, who started in at the middle and worked
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Adam Bede by George Eliot: there are brethren and sisters in great need, who have none of
those comforts you have around you. I feel that I am called back
to those amongst whom my lot was first cast. I feel drawn again
towards the hills where I used to be blessed in carrying the word
of life to the sinful and desolate."
"You feel! Yes," said Mrs. Poyser, returning from a parenthetic
glance at the cows, "that's allays the reason I'm to sit down wi',
when you've a mind to do anything contrairy. What do you want to
be preaching for more than you're preaching now? Don't you go
off, the Lord knows where, every Sunday a-preaching and praying?
An' haven't you got Methodists enow at Treddles'on to go and look
Adam Bede |
