| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Paz by Honore de Balzac: driven beside you, and where you pass. Yes, I shall grieve for
Malaga's hardness--the Malaga of whom I am now speaking."
This was said in a manner that made Clementine tremble.
"Then you do love Malaga very much?" she asked.
"I have sacrificed for her the honor that no man should ever
sacrifice."
"What honor?"
"That which we desire to keep at any cost in the eyes of our idol."
After that reply Thaddeus said no more; he was silent until, as they
passed a wooden building on the Champs Elysees, he said, pointing to
it, "That is the Circus."
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Master and Man by Leo Tolstoy: that had gone on drink, how he had offended his wife, his
cursing, his neglect of church and of the fasts, and all the
things the priest blamed him for at confession. 'Of course they
are sins. But then, did I take them on of myself? That's
evidently how God made me. Well, and the sins? Where am I to
escape to?'
So at first he thought of what might happen to him that night,
and then did not return to such thoughts but gave himself up to
whatever recollections came into his head of themselves. Now
he thought of Martha's arrival, of the drunkenness among the
workers and his own renunciation of drink, then of their
 Master and Man |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Court Life in China by Isaac Taylor Headland: growing in size and usefulness.
Prince Su's third sister is married to a commoner, but as is
usual with these ladies who marry beneath their own rank, she
retains her maiden title of Third Princess, by which she is
always addressed.
"How did you obtain your education?" I once asked her.
"During my childhood," she answered, "my mother was opposed to
having her daughters learn to read, but like most wealthy
families, she had old men come into the palace to read stories or
recite poetry for our entertainment. I not infrequently followed
the old men out, bought the books from which they read, and then
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