| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Walden by Henry David Thoreau: behind the constellation of Cassiopeia's Chair, far from noise and
disturbance. I discovered that my house actually had its site in
such a withdrawn, but forever new and unprofaned, part of the
universe. If it were worth the while to settle in those parts near
to the Pleiades or the Hyades, to Aldebaran or Altair, then I was
really there, or at an equal remoteness from the life which I had
left behind, dwindled and twinkling with as fine a ray to my nearest
neighbor, and to be seen only in moonless nights by him. Such was
that part of creation where I had squatted;
"There was a shepherd that did live,
And held his thoughts as high
Walden |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Laches by Plato: Socrates, his son; they belong to different circles. In the Meno their
want of education in all but the arts of riding and wrestling is adduced as
a proof that virtue cannot be taught. The recognition of Socrates by
Lysimachus is extremely graceful; and his military exploits naturally
connect him with the two generals, of whom one has witnessed them. The
characters of Nicias and Laches are indicated by their opinions on the
exhibition of the man fighting in heavy armour. The more enlightened
Nicias is quite ready to accept the new art, which Laches treats with
ridicule, seeming to think that this, or any other military question, may
be settled by asking, 'What do the Lacedaemonians say?' The one is the
thoughtful general, willing to avail himself of any discovery in the art of
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum: Claus laughed and whistled and sang all the way home. Never had he
been so happy as on that day.
When he entered his house he found Shiegra, the lioness, awaiting him.
Since his babyhood Shiegra had loved Claus, and while he dwelt in the
Forest she had often come to visit him at Necile's bower. After Claus
had gone to live in the Laughing Valley Shiegra became lonely and ill
at ease, and now she had braved the snow-drifts, which all lions
abhor, to see him once more. Shiegra was getting old and her teeth
were beginning to fall out, while the hairs that tipped her ears and
tail had changed from tawny-yellow to white.
Claus found her lying on his hearth, and he put his arms around the
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus |
