| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Illustrious Gaudissart by Honore de Balzac: diplomats. All things to all men, he knew how to accost a banker like
a capitalist, a magistrate like a functionary, a royalist with pious
and monarchical sentiments, a bourgeois as one of themselves. In
short, wherever he was he was just what he ought to be; he left
Gaudissart at the door when he went in, and picked him up when he came
out.
Until 1830 the illustrious Gaudissart was faithful to the article
Paris. In his close relation to the caprices of humanity, the varied
paths of commerce had enabled him to observe the windings of the heart
of man. He had learned the secret of persuasive eloquence, the knack
of loosening the tightest purse-strings, the art of rousing desire in
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from King Henry VI by William Shakespeare: So minutes, hours, days, months, and years,
Pass'd over to the end they were created,
Would bring white hairs unto a quiet grave.
Ah, what a life were this! how sweet! how lovely!
Gives not the hawthorn bush a sweeter shade
To shepherds looking on their silly sheep
Than doth a rich embroider'd canopy
To kings that fear their subjects' treachery?
O, yes, it doth; a thousand-fold it doth!
And to conclude, the shepherd's homely curds,
His cold thin drink out of his leather bottle,
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne: I might perhaps wake one day to find myself half devoured."
"Friend Conseil, I like you much, but not enough to eat you unnecessarily."
"I would not trust you," replied Conseil. "But enough.
We must absolutely bring down some game to satisfy this cannibal,
or else one of these fine mornings, master will find only pieces
of his servant to serve him."
While we were talking thus, we were penetrating the sombre arches
of the forest, and for two hours we surveyed it in all directions.
Chance rewarded our search for eatable vegetables,
and one of the most useful products of the tropical zones
furnished us with precious food that we missed on board.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea |
