| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Crito by Plato: discover that we are no better than children? Or, in spite of the opinion
of the many, and in spite of consequences whether better or worse, shall we
insist on the truth of what was then said, that injustice is always an evil
and dishonour to him who acts unjustly? Shall we say so or not?
CRITO: Yes.
SOCRATES: Then we must do no wrong?
CRITO: Certainly not.
SOCRATES: Nor when injured injure in return, as the many imagine; for we
must injure no one at all? (E.g. compare Rep.)
CRITO: Clearly not.
SOCRATES: Again, Crito, may we do evil?
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Options by O. Henry: the inverted sugar-coated quinine pill--the bitter on the outside.
The Carterets were, or was (Columbia College professors please rule),
an old Virginia family. Long time ago the gentlemen of the family had
worn lace ruffles and carried tinless foils and owned plantations and
had slaves to burn. But the war had greatly reduced their holdings.
(Of course you can perceive at once that this flavor has been
shoplifted from Mr. F. Hopkinson Smith, in spite of the "et" after
"Carter.") Well, anyhow:
In digging up the Carteret history I shall not take you farther back
than the year 1620. The two original American Carterets came over in
that year, but by different means of transportation. One brother,
Options |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Mosses From An Old Manse by Nathaniel Hawthorne: fatal to those who fought, was not unfortunate in its
consequences to the country; for it broke the strength of a tribe
and conduced to the peace which subsisted during several ensuing
years. History and tradition are unusually minute in their
memorials of their affair; and the captain of a scouting party of
frontier men has acquired as actual a military renown as many a
victorious leader of thousands. Some of the incidents contained
in the following pages will be recognized, notwithstanding the
substitution of fictitious names, by such as have heard, from old
men's lips, the fate of the few combatants who were in a
condition to retreat after "Lovell's Fight."
Mosses From An Old Manse |
