| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli: are either his own, or they are mercenaries, auxiliaries, or mixed.
Mercenaries and auxiliaries are useless and dangerous; and if one
holds his state based on these arms, he will stand neither firm nor
safe; for they are disunited, ambitious, and without discipline,
unfaithful, valiant before friends, cowardly before enemies; they have
neither the fear of God nor fidelity to men, and destruction is
deferred only so long as the attack is; for in peace one is robbed by
them, and in war by the enemy. The fact is, they have no other
attraction or reason for keeping the field than a trifle of stipend,
which is not sufficient to make them willing to die for you. They are
ready enough to be your soldiers whilst you do not make war, but if
The Prince |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Fisherman's Luck by Henry van Dyke: pounds, five pounds and a half, FOUR POUNDS! Is not this the
smallest salmon that you ever saw? Not a grilse, you understand,
but a real salmon, of brightest silver, hall-marked with St.
Andrew’s cross.
Now let us sit down for a moment and watch the fish trying to leap
up the falls. There is a clear jump of about ten feet, and above
that an apparently impossible climb of ten feet more up a ladder of
twisting foam. A salmon darts from the boiling water at the bottom
of the fall like an arrow from a bow. He rises in a beautiful
curve, fins laid close to his body and tail quivering; but he has
miscalculated his distance. He is on the downward curve when the
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Juana by Honore de Balzac: the silence of the room. A soldier of the 6th, hearing Montefiore's
cry for help, had summoned Diard. The quartermaster, who was
fortunately in his bivouac, came, accompanied by friends.
"Why did I fly?" said Montefiore, hearing the voice of his friend.
"Because I told you the truth; I am married--Diard! Diard!" he shouted
in a piercing voice.
But, at a word from Perez, the apprentice closed and bolted the doors,
so that the soldiers were delayed by battering them in. Before they
could enter, the Marana had time to strike her dagger into the guilty
man; but anger hindered her aim, the blade slipped upon the Italian's
epaulet, though she struck her blow with such force that he fell at
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