| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Philebus by Plato: is assigned to symmetry; the third, to reason and wisdom; the fourth, to
knowledge and true opinion; the fifth, to pure pleasures; and here the Muse
says 'Enough.'
'Bidding farewell to Philebus and Socrates,' we may now consider the
metaphysical conceptions which are presented to us. These are (I) the
paradox of unity and plurality; (II) the table of categories or elements;
(III) the kinds of pleasure; (IV) the kinds of knowledge; (V) the
conception of the good. We may then proceed to examine (VI) the relation
of the Philebus to the Republic, and to other dialogues.
I. The paradox of the one and many originated in the restless dialectic of
Zeno, who sought to prove the absolute existence of the one by showing the
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle: hath been taken by that vile Sheriff's men, therefore doth it
behoove us to take bow and brand in hand to bring him off again;
for I wot that we ought to risk life and limb for him, as he hath
risked life and limb for us. Is it not so, my merry men all?"
Then all cried, "Ay!" with a great voice.
So the next day they all wended their way from Sherwood Forest,
but by different paths, for it behooved them to be very crafty;
so the band separated into parties of twos and threes,
which were all to meet again in a tangled dell that lay near
to Nottingham Town. Then, when they had all gathered together
at the place of meeting, Robin spoke to them thus:
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Deserted Woman by Honore de Balzac: the pack of hounds and the laced coats; full of honor among
themselves, and one and all loyally devoted to princes whom they only
see at a distance. The historical house /incognito/ is as quaint a
survival as a piece of ancient tapestry. Vegetating somewhere among
them there is sure to be an uncle or a brother, a lieutenant-general,
an old courtier of the Kings's, who wears the red ribbon of the order
of Saint-Louis, and went to Hanover with the Marechal de Richelieu:
and here you will find him like a stray leaf out of some old pamphlet
of the time of Louis Quinze.
This fossil greatness finds a rival in another house, wealthier,
though of less ancient lineage. Husband and wife spend a couple of
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