| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Gobseck by Honore de Balzac: "It was in the thick of such a chaos that M. de Trailles tried to
insinuate himself into my good graces. My head was fairly clear, I was
upon my guard. As for him, though he pretended to be decently drunk,
he was perfectly cool, and knew very well what he was about. How it
was done I do not know, but the upshot of it was that when we left
Grignon's rooms about nine o'clock in the evening, M. de Trailles had
thoroughly bewitched me. I had given him my promise that I would
introduce him the next day to our Papa Gobseck. The words 'honor,'
'virtue,' 'countess,' 'honest woman,' and 'ill-luck' were mingled in
his discourse with magical potency, thanks to that golden tongue of
his.
Gobseck |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie: We hurried up the village, and turned in at the lodge gates.
Poirot stopped for a moment, and gazed sorrowfully over the
beautiful expanse of park, still glittering with morning dew.
"So beautiful, so beautiful, and yet, the poor family, plunged in
sorrow, prostrated with grief."
He looked at me keenly as he spoke, and I was aware that I
reddened under his prolonged gaze.
Was the family prostrated by grief? Was the sorrow at Mrs.
Inglethorp's death so great? I realized that there was an
emotional lack in the atmosphere. The dead woman had not the
gift of commanding love. Her death was a shock and a distress,
The Mysterious Affair at Styles |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Inaugural Address by John F. Kennedy: our present course. . .both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons,
both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing
to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of Mankind's
final war.
So let us begin anew. . .remembering on both sides that civility
is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof.
Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.
Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring
those problems which divide us. Let both sides, for the first time,
formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and
control of arms. . .and bring the absolute power to destroy
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