| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin: long ago remarked, all fossils can be classed either in still existing
groups, or between them. That the extinct forms of life help to fill up
the wide intervals between existing genera, families, and orders, cannot be
disputed. For if we confine our attention either to the living or to the
extinct alone, the series is far less perfect than if we combine both into
one general system. With respect to the Vertebrata, whole pages could be
filled with striking illustrations from our great palaeontologist, Owen,
showing how extinct animals fall in between existing groups. Cuvier ranked
the Ruminants and Pachyderms, as the two most distinct orders of mammals;
but Owen has discovered so many fossil links, that he has had to alter the
whole classification of these two orders; and has placed certain pachyderms
On the Origin of Species |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Records of a Family of Engineers by Robert Louis Stevenson: feet in length, they required much precaution and care both in
lifting and laying them. It was only on the writer's
suggestion to Mr. Logan that the artificers were induced to
leave off, as they had intended to complete this floor before
going to bed. The two remaining stones were, however, laid in
their places without mortar when the bell on the beacon was
rung, and, all hands being collected on the top of the
building, three hearty cheers were given on covering the first
apartment. The steward then served out a dram to each, when
the whole retired to their barrack much fatigued, but with the
anticipation of the most perfect repose even in the
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from An Old Maid by Honore de Balzac: black hair, the eyes gleaming with despair and fiery with morning
thoughts, was the first object which met the eyes of the incoming
Suzanne. The grisette, who belonged to a class which certainly has the
instinct of misery and the sufferings of the heart, suddenly felt that
electric spark, darting from Heaven knows where, which can never be
explained, which some strong minds deny, but the sympathetic stroke of
which has been felt by many men and many women. It is at once a light
which lightens the darkness of the future, a presentiment of the
sacred joys of a shared love, the certainty of mutual comprehension.
Above all, it is like the touch of a firm and able hand on the
keyboard of the senses. The eyes are fascinated by an irresistible
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