| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from In the Cage by Henry James: friend had never seen, bloomed in Mrs. Jordan's discourse like a
new Eden, and she converted the past into a bank of violets by the
tone in which she said "Of course you always knew my one passion!"
She obviously met now, at any rate, a big contemporary need,
measured what it was rapidly becoming for people to feel they could
trust her without a tremor. It brought them a peace that--during
the quarter of an hour before dinner in especial--was worth more to
them than mere payment could express. Mere payment, none the less,
was tolerably prompt; she engaged by the month, taking over the
whole thing; and there was an evening on which, in respect to our
heroine, she at last returned to the charge. "It's growing and
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Golden Sayings of Epictetus by Epictetus: drink only water, keep saying on each occasion, I drink water!
And if you ever want to practise endurance and toil, do so unto
yourself and not unto others--do not embrace statues!
CLXXVII
When a man prides himself on being able to understand and
interpret the writings of Chrysippus, say to yourself:--
If Chrysippus had not written obscurely, this fellow would
have had nothing to be proud of. But what is it that I desire? To
understand Nature, and to follow her! Accordingly I ask who is
the Interpreter. On hearing that it is Chrysippus, I go to him.
But it seems I do not understand what he wrote. So I seek one to
The Golden Sayings of Epictetus |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Unseen World and Other Essays by John Fiske: their Christian contemporaries, has made such an impression on
Dr. Draper's mind that it seems to be as hard for him to get rid
of it as it was for Mr. Dick to keep the execution of Charles I.
out of his "Memorial." Even in an essay on the "Civil Policy of
America," the turbaned sage figures quite prominently; and it is
needless to add that he reappears, as large as life, when the
subject of discussion is the attitude of science toward religion.
Speaking briefly with regard to this matter, we may freely admit
that the work done by the Arabs, in scientific inquiry as well as
in the making of events, was very considerable. It was a work,
too, the value of which is not commonly appreciated in the
The Unseen World and Other Essays |
