| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Z. Marcas by Honore de Balzac: Our surprise was chiefly roused by his indifference in matters of
sentiment; women had no place in his life. When we spoke of this
matter, a perennial theme of conversation among Frenchmen, he simply
remarked:
"Gowns cost too much."
He saw the look that passed between Juste and me, and went on:
"Yes, far too much. The woman you buy--and she is the least expensive
--takes a great deal of money. The woman who gives herself takes all
your time! Woman extinguishes every energy, every ambition. Napoleon
reduced her to what she should be. From that point of view, he really
was great. He did not indulge such ruinous fancies of Louis XIV. and
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Within the Tides by Joseph Conrad: and anchors to some purpose. . . At this Cloete thumps him on the
back: You'll do, my noble sailor. Go in and win. . .
"Next thing George knows, his brother tells him that he had
occasion to oblige his partner. And glad of it, too. Likes the
partner no end. Took a friend of his as mate. Man had his
troubles, been ashore a year nursing a dying wife, it seems. Down
on his luck. . . George protests earnestly that he knows nothing of
the person. Saw him once. Not very attractive to look at. . . And
Captain Harry says in his hearty way, That's so, but must give the
poor devil a chance. . .
"So Mr. Stafford joins in dock. And it seems that he did manage to
Within the Tides |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Hated Son by Honore de Balzac: crouching in a niche of the rocks before some species of algae, a
moss, a seaweed, studying their mysteries; seeking perhaps a rhythm in
their fragrant depths, like a bee its honey. He often admired, without
purpose, and without explaining his pleasure to himself, the slender
lines on the petals of dark flowers, the delicacy of their rich tunics
of gold or purple, green or azure, the fringes, so profusely
beautiful, of their calyxes or leaves, their ivory or velvet textures.
Later, a thinker as well as a poet, he would detect the reason of
these innumerable differences in a single nature, by discovering the
indication of unknown faculties; for from day to day he made progress
in the interpretation of the Divine Word writing upon all things here
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