| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Europeans by Henry James: that suddenly touched his nephew: "We may sometimes point
out a road we are unable to follow."
"Ah, don't tell me you have had any sorrows," Felix rejoined.
"I did n't suppose it, and I did n't mean to allude to them.
I simply meant that you all don't amuse yourselves."
"Amuse ourselves? We are not children."
"Precisely not! You have reached the proper age.
I was saying that the other day to Gertrude," Felix added.
"I hope it was not indiscreet."
"If it was," said Mr. Wentworth, with a keener irony than Felix would
have thought him capable of, "it was but your way of amusing yourself.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Enemies of Books by William Blades: I do not envy any man that absence of sentiment which makes some
people careless of the memorials of their ancestors, and whose blood
can be warmed up only by talking of horses or the price of hops.
To them solitude means _ennui_, and anybody's company is preferable
to their own. What an immense amount of calm enjoyment and mental
renovation do such men miss. Even a millionaire will ease
his toils, lengthen his life, and add a hundred per cent.
to his daily pleasures if he becomes a bibliophile; while to the man
of business with a taste for books, who through the day has struggled
in the battle of life with all its irritating rebuffs and anxieties,
what a blessed season of pleasurable repose opens upon him as
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Under the Andes by Rex Stout: think I cried out with joy.
"Come, Harry lad; eat!"
He was too weak to move; but when I tore some of the dried
fish into fragments and fed it to him he devoured it ravenously.
Then he asked for water, and I held the basin to his lips.
We ate as little as it is possible for men to eat who have
fasted for many days, for the stuff had a sharp, concentrated taste
that recommended moderation. And, besides, we were not certain of
getting more.
I wrapped the remainder carefully in my poncho, leaving the
platter empty, and lay down to rest, using the poncho for a pillow.
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