| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Madame Firmiani by Honore de Balzac: "Well, uncle?" said Octave, whose eyes were full of tears.
"There's more in the letter; finish it."
"Oh, the rest is only to be read by a lover," answered Octave,
smiling.
"Yes, right, my boy," said the old man, gently. "I have had many
affairs in my day, but I beg you to believe that I too have loved, 'et
ego in Arcardia.' But I don't understand yet why you give lessons in
mathematics."
"My dear uncle, I am your nephew; isn't that as good as saying that I
had dipped into the capital left me by my father? After I had read
this letter a sort of revolution took place within me. I paid my whole
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen: or censure its impertinence, for she considered it as an
unfeeling reflection on the colonel's advanced years,
and on his forlorn condition as an old bachelor.
Mrs. Dashwood, who could not think a man five years
younger than herself, so exceedingly ancient as he appeared
to the youthful fancy of her daughter, ventured to clear
Mrs. Jennings from the probability of wishing to throw
ridicule on his age.
"But at least, Mamma, you cannot deny the absurdity
of the accusation, though you may not think it intentionally
ill-natured. Colonel Brandon is certainly younger than
Sense and Sensibility |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Daughter of Eve by Honore de Balzac: things were discussed and weighed. But every man, on leaving it,
resumed the livery of his own opinions; there he could, without
compromising himself, criticise his own party, admit the knowledge and
good play of his adversaries, formulate thoughts that no one admits
thinking,--in short, say all, as if ready to do all. Paris is the only
place in the world where such eclectic houses exist; where all tastes,
all vices, all opinions are received under decent guise. Therefore it
is not yet certain that Florine will remain to the end of her career a
second-class actress.
Florine's life was by no means an idle one, or a life to be envied.
Many persons, misled by the magnificent pedestal that the stage gives
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