| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Tao Teh King by Lao-tze: 4. Why was it that the ancients prized this Tao so much? Was it not
because it could be got by seeking for it, and the guilty could escape
(from the stain of their guilt) by it? This is the reason why all
under heaven consider it the most valuable thing.
63. 1. (It is the way of the Tao) to act without (thinking of) acting;
to conduct affairs without (feeling the) trouble of them; to taste
without discerning any flavour; to consider what is small as great,
and a few as many; and to recompense injury with kindness.
2. (The master of it) anticipates things that are difficult while they
are easy, and does things that would become great while they are
small. All difficult things in the world are sure to arise from a
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Deserted Woman by Honore de Balzac: more deviation or change than their opinions on matters religious,
political, moral, or literary.
If a stranger is admitted to the /cenacle/, every member of it in turn
will say (not without a trace of irony), "You will not find the
brilliancy of your Parisian society here," and proceed forthwith to
criticise the life led by his neighbors, as if he himself were an
exception who had striven, and vainly striven, to enlighten the rest.
But any stranger so ill advised as to concur in any of their freely
expressed criticism of each other, is pronounced at once to be an ill-
natured person, a heathen, an outlaw, a reprobate Parisian "as
Parisians mostly are."
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from An Historical Mystery by Honore de Balzac: likeness to her who is now to perish."
The travellers could not fail to be aware of the vast movement of men
and material which surrounded them the moment they entered Prussia.
The campaign of Jena had just begun. Laurence and the marquis beheld
the magnificent divisions of the French army deploying and parading as
if at the Tuileries. In this display of military power, which can be
adequately described only with the words and images of the Bible, the
proportions of the Man whose spirit moved these masses grew gigantic
to Laurence's imagination. Soon, the cry of victory resounded in her
ears. The Imperial arms had just obtained two signal advantages. The
Prince of Prussia had been killed the evening before the day on which
|
