| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Lin McLean by Owen Wister: of having made a discovery, "when a man gets down to bed-rock affairs in
this life he's got to do his travellin' alone, same as he does his dyin'.
I expect even married men has thoughts and hopes they don't tell their
wives."
"Never was married," said I.
"Well--no more was I. Let's go to bed." And Lin shook my hand, and gave
me a singular, rather melancholy smile.
At Salt Lake City, which Ogden was glad to include in his Western
holiday, we found both Mormon and Gentile ready to give us odds against
rain--only I noticed that those of the true faith were less free. Indeed;
the Mormon, the Quaker, and most sects of an isolated doctrine have a
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Charmides by Plato: be easily misunderstood; and succeeding sages who added 'Never too much,'
or, 'Give a pledge, and evil is nigh at hand,' would appear to have so
misunderstood them; for they imagined that 'Know thyself!' was a piece of
advice which the god gave, and not his salutation of the worshippers at
their first coming in; and they dedicated their own inscription under the
idea that they too would give equally useful pieces of advice. Shall I
tell you, Socrates, why I say all this? My object is to leave the previous
discussion (in which I know not whether you or I are more right, but, at
any rate, no clear result was attained), and to raise a new one in which I
will attempt to prove, if you deny, that temperance is self-knowledge.
Yes, I said, Critias; but you come to me as though I professed to know
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne: Spilett's rifles are there to prevent them. You know that they carry more
than a mile!"
"No doubt," replied Herbert; "but what can two rifles do against the
brig's guns?"
"Well, the brig isn't in the channel yet, I fancy!" said Pencroft.
"But suppose she does come there?" said Harding.
"That's impossible, for she would risk running aground and being lost!"
"It is possible," said Ayrton. "The convicts might profit by the high
tide to enter the channel, with the risk of grounding at low tide, it is
true; but then, under the fire from her guns, our posts would be no longer
tenable."
The Mysterious Island |
