The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Gobseck by Honore de Balzac: in came a man who could only be the Count.
" 'The Countess gave me a glance. I saw how it was. She was thoroughly
in my power. There was a time, when I was young, and might perhaps
have been stupid enough not to protest the bill. At Pondicherry, in
1763, I let a woman off, and nicely she paid me out afterwards. I
deserved it; what call was there for me to trust her?
" ' "What does this gentleman want?" asked the Count.
" 'I could see that the Countess was trembling from head to foot; the
white satin skin of her throat was rough, "turned to goose flesh," to
use the familiar expression. As for me, I laughed in myself without
moving a muscle.
Gobseck |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin: as in the case of extreme pain, fear, and grief, and they have ultimately
caused complete exhaustion; they are consequently expressed chiefly
by negative signs and by prostration. Again, there are other emotions,
such as that of affection, which do not commonly lead to action of any kind,
and consequently are not exhibited by any strongly marked outward signs.
Affection indeed, in as far as it is a pleasurable sensation,
excites the ordinary signs of pleasure.
On the other hand, many of the effects due to the excitement
of the nervous system seem to be quite independent
of the flow of nerve-force along the channels which have
been rendered habitual by former exertions of the will.
Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Some Reminiscences by Joseph Conrad: sir."
Saying these words I smiled. I don't know why I smiled except
that it seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name
without a smile of a sort. It had not to be necessarily a
mirthful smile. Turning his head towards me Captain C-- smiled
too, rather joylessly.
"The pony got away from him--eh?"
"Yes sir. He did."
"Where is he?"
"Goodness only knows."
"No. I mean Almayer. Let him come along."
Some Reminiscences |