| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Adam Bede by George Eliot: temptation into which he falls at last as bad as the man who never
struggles at all?"
"No, certainly; I pity him in proportion to his struggles, for
they foreshadow the inward suffering which is the worst form of
Nemesis. Consequences are unpitying. Our deeds carry their
terrible consequences, quite apart from any fluctuations that went
before--consequences that are hardly ever confined to ourselves.
And it is best to fix our minds on that certainty, instead of
considering what may be the elements of excuse for us. But I
never knew you so inclined for moral discussion, Arthur? Is it
some danger of your own that you are considering in this
Adam Bede |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Rescue by Joseph Conrad: about evil communications corrupting good manners. Seems to me
I've heard that before. Queer thing to say. He tried to make it
out somehow that if he wasn't corrupt it wasn't your fault. As if
this was any concern of mine. He's as mad as he's fat--or else he
puts it on." Carter laughed a little and leaned his shoulders
against a bulkhead.
Lingard gazed at the woman who expected so much from him and in
the light she seemed to shed he saw himself leading a column of
armed boats to the attack of the Settlement. He could burn the
whole place to the ground and drive every soul of them into the
bush. He could! And there was a surprise, a shock, a vague horror
The Rescue |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Padre Ignacio by Owen Wister: that I could get on without any remembrance of the world at all. I found
that I could not. And so I have taught the old operas to my choir--such
parts of them as are within our compass and suitable for worship. And
certain of my friends still alive at home are good enough to remember this
taste of mine and to send me each year some of the new music that I should
never hear of otherwise. Then we study these things also. And although
our organ is a miserable affair, Felipe manages very cleverly to make it
do. And while the voices are singing these operas, especially the old
ones, what harm is there if sometimes the priest is thinking of something
else? So there's my confession! And now, whether Trovatore is come or
not, I shall not allow you to leave us until you have taught all you know
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