| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau: of the slaves, or to march to Mexico--see if I would go";
and yet these very men have each, directly by their
allegiance, and so indirectly, at least, by their money,
furnished a substitute. The soldier is applauded who
refuses to serve in an unjust war by those who do not refuse
to sustain the unjust government which makes the war;
is applauded by those whose own act and authority he disregards
and sets at naught; as if the state were penitent to that
degree that it hired one to scourge it while it sinned, but
not to that degree that it left off sinning for a moment.
Thus, under the name of Order and Civil Government, we are
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad: He had perceived me, too. Something (uncon-
scious exuberance of spirits perhaps) moved me to
wave my hand to him elaborately. This lapse
from good taste happened before I was aware that
I was capable of it.
The impact of my impudence stopped him short,
much as a bullet might have done. I verily believe
he staggered, though as far as I could see he didn't
actually fall. I had gone past in a moment and did
not turn my head. I had forgotten his existence.
The next ten minutes might have been ten
The Shadow Line |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Malbone: An Oldport Romance by Thomas Wentworth Higginson: fresh experiences and difficult combinations. At Hope's appeal
he was to risk Hope's peace forever; he was to make her sweet
sisterly affection its own executioner. In obedience to her
love he must revive Emilia's. The tender intercourse which he
had been trying to renounce as a crime must be rebaptized as a
duty. Was ever a man placed, he thought, in a position so
inextricable, so disastrous? What could he offer Emilia? How
could he explain to her his position? He could not even tell
her that it was at Hope's command he sought her.
He who is summoned to rescue a drowning man, knowing that he
himself may go down with that inevitable clutch around his
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