| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Philebus by Plato: others; for we cannot help acknowledging that what is right for us is the
right and inheritance of others. We feel the advantage of an abstract
principle wide enough and strong enough to override all the particularisms
of mankind; which acknowledges a universal good, truth, right; which is
capable of inspiring men like a passion, and is the symbol of a cause for
which they are ready to contend to their life's end.
And if we test this principle by the lives of its professors, it would
certainly appear inferior to none as a rule of action. From the days of
Eudoxus (Arist. Ethics) and Epicurus to our own, the votaries of pleasure
have gained belief for their principles by their practice. Two of the
noblest and most disinterested men who have lived in this century, Bentham
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe: everyday life--the hideous dropping off of the veil. There was
an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart--an unredeemed
dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could
torture into aught of the sublime. What was it--I paused to
think--what was it that so unnerved me in the contemplation of
the House of Usher? It was a mystery all insoluble; nor could I
grapple with the shadowy fancies that crowded upon me as I
pondered. I was forced to fall back upon the unsatisfactory
conclusion, that while, beyond doubt, there are combinations
of very simple natural objects which have the power of thus
affecting us, still the analysis of this power lies among
The Fall of the House of Usher |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Exiles by Honore de Balzac: master the highest of all ideas--the Idea of the Idea!
"Well, go then, start! Fly by faith up from globe to globe, soar
through space! Thought, love, and faith are its mystical keys.
Traverse the circles, reach the throne! God is more merciful than you
are; He opens His temple to all His creatures. Only, do not forget the
pattern of Moses; put your shoes from off your feet, cast off all
filth, leave your body far behind; otherwise you shall be consumed;
for God--God is Light!"
Just as Doctor Sigier spoke these grand words, his face radiant, his
hand uplifted, a sunbeam pierced through an open window, like a magic
jet from a fount of splendor, a long triangular shaft of gold that lay
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