| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Concerning Christian Liberty by Martin Luther: good work, he would immediately lose faith, with all its
benefits. Such folly is prettily represented in the fable where a
dog, running along in the water and carrying in his mouth a real
piece of meat, is deceived by the reflection of the meat in the
water, and, in trying with open mouth to seize it, loses the meat
and its image at the same time.
Here you will ask, "If all who are in the Church are priests, by
what character are those whom we now call priests to be
distinguished from the laity?" I reply, By the use of these
words, "priest," "clergy," " spiritual person," "ecclesiastic,"
an injustice has been done, since they have been transferred from
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Unseen World and Other Essays by John Fiske: brain, rarely surpassed in any race and manifested on a thousand
battle-fields, and in the triumphs of a magnificent and most
original literature, had not been able to save a whole nation
from the disasters and the degradation which the mere words
Philip II. and the Holy Inquisition suggest to every educated
mind." Nor could Spain possibly become rich, for, as Mr. Motley
continues, "nearly every law, according to which the prosperity
of a country becomes progressive, was habitually violated." On
turning to the Netherlands we find the most complete contrast,
both in historical conditions and in social results; and the
success of the Netherlands in their long struggle becomes easily
The Unseen World and Other Essays |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Under the Andes by Rex Stout: strained ahead, when there appeared an opening in the right wall at
a distance of a hundred feet or so. Not having seen or heard
anything to recommend caution, we advanced without slackening our
pace until we had reached it.
I said aloud to Harry, "Probably a cross-passage," and then
jerked him back quickly against the opposite wall as I saw the real
nature of the opening.
It led to a small room, with a low ceiling and rough walls,
dark as the passage in which we stood, for it contained no light.
We could see its interior dimly, but well enough to discover
the form of an Inca standing just within the doorway. His back was
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