The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Time Machine by H. G. Wells: presently came, as I stared about me, and very quietly took my
hand and stood beside me.
`And at first I was so much surprised by this ancient monument
of an intellectual age, that I gave no thought to the
possibilities it presented. Even my preoccupation about the Time
Machine receded a little from my mind.
`To judge from the size of the place, this Palace of Green
Porcelain had a great deal more in it than a Gallery of
Palaeontology; possibly historical galleries; it might be, even a
library! To me, at least in my present circumstances, these
would be vastly more interesting than this spectacle of oldtime
The Time Machine |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Pool in the Desert by Sara Jeanette Duncan: There is nothing in the Academy of this year, at all events, that I
would exchange for the one she gave me. She lived her physical life
at a pace which carried us all along with her; she hunted and drove
and danced and dined with such sincere intention as convinced us all
that in hunting and driving and dancing and dining there were
satisfactions that had been somehow overlooked. The Surgeon-Major's
wife said it was delightful to meet Mrs. Harbottle, she seemed to
enjoy everything so thoroughly; the Surgeon-Major looked at her
critically and asked her if she were quite sure she hadn't a night
temperature. He was a Scotchman. One night Colonel Harbottle,
hearing her give away the last extra, charged her with renewing her
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin: when a young man, with that proprietary, and as his secretary.
It was war-time, and their ship was chas'd by an armed vessel,
suppos'd to be an enemy. Their captain prepar'd for defense;
but told William Penn and his company of Quakers, that he did
not expect their assistance, and they might retire into the cabin,
which they did, except James Logan, who chose to stay upon deck,
and was quarter'd to a gun. The suppos'd enemy prov'd a friend,
so there was no fighting; but when the secretary went down to
communicate the intelligence, William Penn rebuk'd him severely for
staying upon deck, and undertaking to assist in defending the vessel,
contrary to the principles of Friends, especially as it had not been
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin |