| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Golden Sayings of Epictetus by Epictetus: If thou wouldst make progress, be content to seem foolish
and void of understanding with respect to outward things. Care
not to be thought to know anything. If any should make account of
thee, distrust thyself.
CLIX
Remember that in life thou shouldst order thy conduct as at
a banquet. Has any dish that is being served reached thee?
Stretch forth thy hand and help thyself modestly. Doth it pass
thee by? Seek not to detain it. Has it not yet come? Send not
forth thy desire to meet it, but wait until it reaches thee. Deal
thus with children, thus with wife; thus with office, thus with
The Golden Sayings of Epictetus |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Schoolmistress and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov: "You here! I tell you it's really impossible to go anywhere with
Yegor! What a fellow he is! I don't understand him! He has got up
a scene! Do you hear? Yegor!" he shouted at the door. Yegor!"
"I won't allow you to hit women!" the artist's piercing voice
sounded from above. Something heavy and lumbering rolled down the
stairs. It was the artist falling headlong. Evidently he had been
pushed downstairs.
He picked himself up from the ground, shook his hat, and, with an
angry and indignant face, brandished his fist towards the top of
the stairs and shouted:
"Scoundrels! Torturers! Bloodsuckers! I won't allow you to hit
The Schoolmistress and Other Stories |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne: did not pursue a straight course. The Parsee, who was quite familiar
with the roads and paths in the district, declared that they would gain
twenty miles by striking directly through the forest.
Phileas Fogg and Sir Francis Cromarty, plunged to the neck
in the peculiar howdahs provided for them, were horribly jostled
by the swift trotting of the elephant, spurred on as he was by
the skilful Parsee; but they endured the discomfort with true
British phlegm, talking little, and scarcely able to catch a glimpse
of each other. As for Passepartout, who was mounted on the beast's back,
and received the direct force of each concussion as he trod along,
he was very careful, in accordance with his master's advice,
Around the World in 80 Days |
