| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Twelve Stories and a Dream by H. G. Wells: his hands, nevertheless, and summon all his resolution before he
began very softly to ascend the dim staircase, pausing for several
seconds between each step. Above was a square landing with one
open and several closed doors; and all the house was still. For
a moment he stood wondering what would happen if some sleeper
woke suddenly and emerged. The open door showed a moonlit bedroom,
the coverlet white and undisturbed. Into this room he crept in three
interminable minutes and took a piece of soap for his plunder--
his trophy. He turned to descend even more softly than he had
ascended. It was as easy as--
Hist! . . .
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Apology by Xenophon: [23] Delphi.
[24] Or, "the objects that meet us." See Prof. Jebb ad Theophr. "Ch."
xxviii. 5.
As they listened to these words the judges murmured their dissent,
some as disbelieving what was said, and others out of simple envy that
Socrates should actually receive from heaven more than they
themselves; whereupon Socrates returned to the charge. "Come," he
said, "lend me your ears while I tell you something more, so that
those of you who choose may go to a still greater length in refusing
to believe that I am thus highly honoured by the divine powers.
Chaerephon[25] once, in the presence of many witnesses, put a question
The Apology |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart: should be ambitious for him: he must have every opportunity. And
so she came east. She drifted around, doing plain sewing and
keeping a home somewhere always for the boy. Finally, however,
she realized that her only training had been domestic, and
she put the boy in an Episcopalian home, and secured the position
of housekeeper to the Armstrongs. There she found Lucien's
father, this time under his own name. It was Arnold Armstrong.
I gathered that there was no particular enmity at that time in
Anne's mind. She told him of the boy, and threatened exposure if
he did not provide for him. Indeed, for a time, he did so. Then
he realized that Lucien was the ruling passion in this lonely
The Circular Staircase |
