| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from My Antonia by Willa Cather: of learning what to do with one's hands in a drawing-room!
When the characters all spoke at once and I missed some
of the phrases they flashed at each other, I was in misery.
I strained my ears and eyes to catch every exclamation.
The actress who played Marguerite was even then old-fashioned,
though historic. She had been a member of Daly's famous New
York company, and afterward a `star' under his direction.
She was a woman who could not be taught, it is said, though she
had a crude natural force which carried with people whose
feelings were accessible and whose taste was not squeamish.
She was already old, with a ravaged countenance and a physique
My Antonia |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Alcibiades I by Plato: now, having his permission, I will speak, for now you will listen to me.
ALCIBIADES: Your silence, Socrates, was always a surprise to me. I never
could understand why you followed me about, and now that you have begun to
speak again, I am still more amazed. Whether I think all this or not, is a
matter about which you seem to have already made up your mind, and
therefore my denial will have no effect upon you. But granting, if I must,
that you have perfectly divined my purposes, why is your assistance
necessary to the attainment of them? Can you tell me why?
SOCRATES: You want to know whether I can make a long speech, such as you
are in the habit of hearing; but that is not my way. I think, however,
that I can prove to you the truth of what I am saying, if you will grant me
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie: great thing is to keep calm."
Julius groaned.
"That's so. But it gets my goat to think of that innocent young
girl in danger!"
Tommy nodded abstractedly. He was thinking. In a moment or two,
he said:
"I say, Julius, what do they want her for, anyway?"
"Eh? I don't get you?"
"What I mean is that I don't think it's their game to do her any
harm," explained Tommy, puckering his brow with the strain of his
mental processes. "She's a hostage, that's what she is. She's in
Secret Adversary |
