| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy: Posdnicheff became silent, and twice there escaped him, in the
half-darkness, sighs, which at that moment seemed to me like
suppressed sobs. Then he continued.
CHAPTER XVIII.
"So we lived in the city. In the city the wretched feel less
sad. One can live there a hundred years without being noticed,
and be dead a long time before anybody will notice it. People
have no time to inquire into your life. All are absorbed.
Business, social relations, art, the health of children, their
education. And there are visits that must be received and made;
The Kreutzer Sonata |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Village Rector by Honore de Balzac: system is the /concours/, competition,--a modern invention,
essentially bad; bad not only in science, but wherever it is
employed, in arts, in all selections of men, of projects, of
things. If it is a reproach to our great Ecoles that they have not
produced men superior to other educational establishments, it is
still more shameful that the /grand prix/ of the Institute has not
as yet furnished a single great painter, great musician, great
architect, great sculptor; just as the suffrage for the last
twenty years has not elected out of its tide of mediocrities a
single great statesman. My observation makes me detect, as I
think, an error which vitiates in France both education and
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Mirror of the Sea by Joseph Conrad: vagabond?" he asked menacingly.
Nothing would induce Cesar to answer that question. It was as if
he even disdained to lie. He faced us, drawing back his lips and
gnashing his teeth, and did not shrink an inch before the sweep of
Dominic's arm. He went down as if shot, of course. But this time
I noticed that, when picking himself up, he remained longer than
usual on all fours, baring his big teeth over his shoulder and
glaring upwards at his uncle with a new sort of hate in his round,
yellow eyes. That permanent sentiment seemed pointed at that
moment by especial malice and curiosity. I became quite
interested. If he ever manages to put poison in the dishes, I
The Mirror of the Sea |
