| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Soul of a Bishop by H. G. Wells: space, of a light of wonder and a Presence. But he must not give
way to that again! He had already given way altogether too much.
He repeated to himself in a whisper, "I am in Piccadilly."
If he kept tight hold upon himself he felt he might get to the
Athenaeum before--before anything more happened.
He murmured directions to himself. "Keep along the pavement.
Turn to the right at the Circus. Now down the hill. Easily down
the hill. Don't float! Junior Army and Navy Stores. And the
bookseller."
And presently he had a doubt of his name and began to repeat
it.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Philebus by Plato: SOCRATES: Most true, O son of Callias; and the previous argument showed
that if we are not able to tell the kinds of everything that has unity,
likeness, sameness, or their opposites, none of us will be of the smallest
use in any enquiry.
PROTARCHUS: That seems to be very near the truth, Socrates. Happy would
the wise man be if he knew all things, and the next best thing for him is
that he should know himself. Why do I say so at this moment? I will tell
you. You, Socrates, have granted us this opportunity of conversing with
you, and are ready to assist us in determining what is the best of human
goods. For when Philebus said that pleasure and delight and enjoyment and
the like were the chief good, you answered--No, not those, but another
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Troll Garden and Selected Stories by Willa Cather: thing done; and this time there would be no awakening, no figure
at the top of the stairs. He watched the snowflakes whirling by
his window until he fell asleep.
When he awoke, it was three o'clock in the afternoon. He
bounded up with a start; half of one of his precious days gone
already! He spent more than an hour in dressing, watching every
stage of his toilet carefully in the mirror. Everything was
quite perfect; he was exactly the kind of boy he had always
wanted to be.
When he went downstairs Paul took a carriage and drove up
Fifth Avenue toward the Park. The snow had somewhat abated;
The Troll Garden and Selected Stories |
