| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau: her freer and less despondent spirits, is in her prisons, to
be put out and locked out of the State by her own act, as
they have already put themselves out by their principles.
It is there that the fugitive slave, and the Mexican
prisoner on parole, and the Indian come to plead the wrongs
of his race should find them; on that separate but more free
and honorable ground, where the State places those who are
not with her, but against her--the only house in a slave
State in which a free man can abide with honor. If any
think that their influence would be lost there, and their
voices no longer afflict the ear of the State, that they
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from 1984 by George Orwell: red back and a marbled cover.
For some reason the telescreen in the living-room was in an unusual
position. Instead of being placed, as was normal, in the end wall, where
it could command the whole room, it was in the longer wall, opposite the
window. To one side of it there was a shallow alcove in which Winston
was now sitting, and which, when the flats were built, had probably been
intended to hold bookshelves. By sitting in the alcove, and keeping well
back, Winston was able to remain outside the range of the telescreen, so
far as sight went. He could be heard, of course, but so long as he stayed
in his present position he could not be seen. It was partly the unusual
geography of the room that had suggested to him the thing that he was now
1984 |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from At the Sign of the Cat & Racket by Honore de Balzac: poor orph----"
He was brushing the cuff of his left sleeve with his right hand, and
dared not look at the old man, who smiled as he thought that this
modest young fellow no doubt needed, as he had needed once on a time,
some encouragement to complete his explanation.
"To be sure," said Virginie's father, "you do not altogether deserve
this favor, Joseph. You have not so much confidence in me as I have in
you." (The young man looked up quickly.) "You know all the secrets of
the cash-box. For the last two years I have told you almost all my
concerns. I have sent you to travel in our goods. In short, I have
nothing on my conscience as regards you. But you--you have a soft
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