| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Vailima Prayers & Sabbath Morn by Robert Louis Stevenson: draws to a conclusion, when the windows begin to be darkened, when
the bond of the family is to be loosed, there shall be no
bitterness of remorse in our farewells.
Help us to look back on the long way that Thou hast brought us, on
the long days in which we have been served, not according to our
deserts, but our desires; on the pit and the miry clay, the
blackness of despair, the horror of misconduct, from which our feet
have been plucked out. For our sins forgiven or prevented, for our
shame unpublished, we bless and thank Thee, O God. Help us yet
again and ever. So order events, so strengthen our frailty, as
that day by day we shall come before Thee with this song of
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Miracle Mongers and Their Methods by Harry Houdini: performers had anticipated some of his best
effects. Among my clippings, for instance, I
find the following. I regret that I cannot give
the date, but it is evident from the long form
of the letters that it was quite early. This is
the first mention I have found of the hot-oven
effect afterwards made famous by Chabert.
WONDERFUL PHENOMENON
A correspondent in France writes as
follows: ``Paris has, for some days, rung
with relations of the wonderful exploits
 Miracle Mongers and Their Methods |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Chance by Joseph Conrad: companion.
"But in that way my angle of view was changed. The field too was
smaller. The end of the table, the tray and the swivel-chair I had
right under my eyes. The captain had not come back yet. The piano
I could not see now; but on the other hand I had a very oblique
downward view of the curtains drawn across the cabin and cutting off
the forward part of it just about the level of the skylight-end and
only an inch or so from the end of the table. They were heavy
stuff, travelling on a thick brass rod with some contrivance to keep
the rings from sliding to and fro when the ship rolled. But just
then the ship was as still almost as a model shut up in a glass case
 Chance |