| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Shakespeare's Sonnets by William Shakespeare: As those whose beauties proudly make them cruel;
For well thou know'st to my dear doting heart
Thou art the fairest and most precious jewel.
Yet, in good faith, some say that thee behold,
Thy face hath not the power to make love groan;
To say they err I dare not be so bold,
Although I swear it to myself alone.
And to be sure that is not false I swear,
A thousand groans, but thinking on thy face,
One on another's neck, do witness bear
Thy black is fairest in my judgment's place.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Scenes from a Courtesan's Life by Honore de Balzac: At this moment the Baron de Nucingen, who was leaning on his cashier's
arm, reached the door of his mansion.
"I am ver' much afrait," said he, as he went in, "dat I hafe done a
bat day's vork. Vell, we must make it up some oder vays."
"De misfortune is dat you shall hafe been caught, mein Herr Baron,"
said the worthy German, whose whole care was for appearances.
"Ja, my miss'ess en titre should be in a position vody of me," said
this Louis XIV. of the counting-house.
Feeling sure that sooner or later Esther would be his, the Baron was
now himself again, a masterly financier. He resumed the management of
his affairs, and with such effect that his cashier, finding him in his
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Duchesse de Langeais by Honore de Balzac: monarch his appellation of le Bien-aime. Of her past charms of
feature, little remained save a remarkably prominent slender
nose, curved like a Turkish scimitar, now the principal ornament
of a countenance that put you in mind of an old white glove. Add
a few powdered curls, high-heeled pantoufles, a cap with
upstanding loops of lace, black mittens, and a decided taste for
ombre. But to do full justice to the lady, it must be said that
she appeared in low-necked gowns of an evening (so high an
opinion of her ruins had she), wore long gloves, and raddled her
cheeks with Martin's classic rouge. An appalling amiability in
her wrinkles, a prodigious brightness in the old lady's eyes, a
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