| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Montezuma's Daughter by H. Rider Haggard: threw themselves like a wave upon the walls of the palace of Axa,
and like a wave from a rock they were driven back again by the fire
of the guns. Thrice they attacked, and thrice they were repulsed.
Then Montezuma, the woman king, appeared upon the walls, praying
them to desist because, forsooth, did they succeed, he himself
might perish. Even then they obeyed him, so great was their
reverence for his sacred royalty, and for a while attacked the
Spaniards no more. But further than this they would not go. If
Montezuma forbade them to kill the Spaniards, at least they
determined to starve them out, and from that hour a strait blockade
was kept up against the palace. Hundreds of the Aztec soldiers had
Montezuma's Daughter |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Art of War by Sun Tzu: answered: 'That does not apply here. What I am about to attack
is a jaded army, not a retreating host; with disciplined troops I
am falling on a disorganized multitude, not a band of desperate
men.' Thereupon he advances to the attack unsupported by his
colleague, and routed the enemy, Wang Kuo being slain."]
35. The sight of men whispering together in small knots or
speaking in subdued tones points to disaffection amongst the rank
and file.
36. Too frequent rewards signify that the enemy is at the
end of his resources;
[Because, when an army is hard pressed, as Tu Mu says, there
The Art of War |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table by Oliver Wendell Holmes: been reacted on by it; it has circulated and done its office in one
mind before it is given out for the benefit of others. It may be
milk or venom to other minds; but, in either case, it is something
which the producer has had the use of and can part with. A man
instinctively tries to get rid of his thought in conversation or in
print so soon as it is matured; but it is hard to get at it as it
lies imbedded, a mere potentiality, the germ of a germ, in his
intellect.
- Where are the brains that are fullest of these ovarian eggs of
thought? - I decline mentioning individuals. The producers of
thought, who are few, the "jobbers" of thought, who are many, and
The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table |
