| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from To-morrow by Joseph Conrad: no longer "next week," "next month," or even
"next year." It was "to-morrow."
In their intimacy of back yard and front gar-
den he talked with her paternally, reasonably, and
dogmatically, with a touch of arbitrariness. They
met on the ground of unreserved confidence, which
was authenticated by an affectionate wink now and
then. Miss Carvil had come to look forward rather
to these winks. At first they had discomposed her:
the poor fellow was mad. Afterwards she had
learned to laugh at them: there was no harm in
To-morrow |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Philebus by Plato: more forcibly inculcated on the principle of utility than on any other.
The question Will such and such an action promote the happiness of myself,
my family, my country, the world? may check the rising feeling of pride or
honour which would cause a quarrel, an estrangement, a war. 'How can I
contribute to the greatest happiness of others?' is another form of the
question which will be more attractive to the minds of many than a
deduction of the duty of benevolence from a priori principles. In politics
especially hardly any other argument can be allowed to have weight except
the happiness of a people. All parties alike profess to aim at this, which
though often used only as the disguise of self-interest has a great and
real influence on the minds of statesmen. In religion, again, nothing can
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Somebody's Little Girl by Martha Young: all the little girls to the long back gallery that was latticed in.
On a low shelf close against the lattice sat a row of white basins.
Then all the little tiny girls washed their little tiny hands in the
white basins. And while they washed their little tiny hands by twos
and by threes together, two little girls washing their hands in one
basin together, three little girls washing their hands together,
they all oftentimes laughed together and said:
``Wash together!
And be friends forever!
Wash together!
And be friends forever!''
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