| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Large Catechism by Dr. Martin Luther: alms and every other good work toward our neighbor are not equal to
this. For God has assigned this estate the highest place, yea, has set
it up in His own stead, upon earth. This will and pleasure of God ought
to be a sufficient reason and incentive to us to do what we can with
good will and pleasure.
Besides this, it is our duty before the world to be grateful for
benefits and every good which we have of our parents. But here again
the devil rules in the world, so that the children forget their
parents, as we all forget God, and no one considers how God nourishes,
protects, and defends us, and bestows so much good on body and soul;
especially when an evil hour comes we are angry and grumble with
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Z. Marcas by Honore de Balzac: superior clerk. He had taken his doctor's degree in law, had mastered
the old and modern codes, and could hold his own with the most famous
pleaders. He had studied the law of nations, and was familiar with
European treaties and international practice. He had studied men and
things in five capitals--London, Berlin, Vienna, Petersburg, and
Constantinople.
No man was better informed than he as to the rules of the Chamber. For
five years he had been reporter of the debates for a daily paper. He
spoke extempore and admirably, and could go on for a long time in that
deep, appealing voice which had struck us to the soul. Indeed, he
proved by the narrative of his life that he was a great orator, a
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Alkahest by Honore de Balzac: objects of art and accumulated wealth, but none of them equalled in
the eyes of a Claes, nor indeed in the judgment of a connoisseur, the
treasures contained in the parlor, where for over two centuries the
family life had glided on.
The Claes who died for the liberties of Ghent, and who might in these
days be thought a mere ordinary craftsman if the historian omitted to
say that he possessed over forty thousand silver marks, obtained by
the manufacture of sail-cloth for the all-powerful Venetian navy,--
this Claes had a friend in the famous sculptor in wood, Van Huysum of
Bruges. The artist had dipped many a time into the purse of the rich
craftsman. Some time before the rebellion of the men of Ghent, Van
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