| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from An Historical Mystery by Honore de Balzac: people about him, but in his own.
Peyrade sprang to the hearth, caught Laurence's foot, raised it, and
compelled her, out of modesty, to throw herself on the sofa, where she
had lately lain asleep. The scene, like other contrasts in human
things, was burlesque in the midst of terror. Peyrade scorched his
hand as he dashed it into the fire to seize the box; but he got it,
threw it on the floor and sat down upon it. These little actions were
done with great rapidity and without a word being uttered. Corentin,
recovering from the pain of the blow, caught Mademoiselle de Cinq-
Cygne by both hands, and held her.
"Do not compel me to use force against you," he said, with withering
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Charmides by Plato: acknowledge that those who do the business of others are temperate? I
said, those who make, not those who do.
What! I asked; do you mean to say that doing and making are not the same?
No more, he replied, than making or working are the same; thus much I have
learned from Hesiod, who says that 'work is no disgrace.' Now do you
imagine that if he had meant by working and doing such things as you were
describing, he would have said that there was no disgrace in them--for
example, in the manufacture of shoes, or in selling pickles, or sitting for
hire in a house of ill-fame? That, Socrates, is not to be supposed: but I
conceive him to have distinguished making from doing and work; and, while
admitting that the making anything might sometimes become a disgrace, when
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Euthyphro by Plato: EUTHYPHRO: Yes indeed, Socrates; at least if they will listen to me.
SOCRATES: But they will be sure to listen if they find that you are a good
speaker. There was a notion that came into my mind while you were
speaking; I said to myself: 'Well, and what if Euthyphro does prove to me
that all the gods regarded the death of the serf as unjust, how do I know
anything more of the nature of piety and impiety? for granting that this
action may be hateful to the gods, still piety and impiety are not
adequately defined by these distinctions, for that which is hateful to the
gods has been shown to be also pleasing and dear to them.' And therefore,
Euthyphro, I do not ask you to prove this; I will suppose, if you like,
that all the gods condemn and abominate such an action. But I will amend
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