| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Phoenix and the Turtle by William Shakespeare: So they lov'd, as love in twain
Had the essence but in one;
Two distincts, division none:
Number there in love was slain.
Hearts remote, yet not asunder;
Distance, and no space was seen
'Twixt the turtle and his queen;
But in them it were a wonder.
So between them love did shine,
That the turtle saw his right
Flaming in the phoenix' sight:
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Polity of Athenians and Lacedaemonians by Xenophon: as a member of the brotherhood of peers.[6]
[5] But see Aristot. "Pol." ii. 9, 32.
[6] Grote, "H. G." viii. 81; "Hell." III. iii. 5.
It may be added, that there was no doubt as to the great antiquity of
this code of laws. The point is clear so far, that Lycurgus himself is
said to have lived in the days of the Heraclidae.[7] But being of so
long standing, these laws, even at this day, still are stamped in the
eyes of other men with all the novelty of youth. And the most
marvellous thing of all is that, while everybody is agreed to praise
these remarkable institutions, there is not a single state which cares
to imitate them.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett: headed and clean-shaven, and with a timid air. It was William. He
looked just like his mother, and I had been imagining that he was
large and stout like his sister, Almira Todd; and, strange to say,
my fancy had led me to picture him not far from thirty and a little
loutish. It was necessary instead to pay William the respect due
to age.
I accustomed myself to plain facts on the instant, and we said
good-morning like old friends. The basket was really heavy, and I
put the hoe through its handle and offered him one end; then we
moved easily toward the house together, speaking of the fine
weather and of mackerel which were reported to be striking in all
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