| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart: Traders' Bank, who at the time we took the house was in the west
with his wife and daughter, and a Doctor Walker, the Armstrong
family physician. Halsey knew Louise Armstrong,--had been rather
attentive to her the winter before, but as Halsey was always
attentive to somebody, I had not thought of it seriously,
although she was a charming girl. I knew of Mr. Armstrong only
through his connection with the bank, where the children's money
was largely invested, and through an ugly story about the son,
Arnold Armstrong, who was reported to have forged his father's
name, for a considerable amount, to some bank paper. However,
the story had had no interest for me.
The Circular Staircase |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Perfect Wagnerite: A Commentary on the Niblung's Ring by George Bernard Shaw: himself a beautiful and refined wife. His choice is forced on
him. He forswears love as thousands of us forswear it every day;
and in a moment the gold is in his grasp, and he disappears in
the depths, leaving the water-fairies vainly screaming "Stop
thief!" whilst the river seems to plunge into darkness and sink
from us as we rise to the cloud regions above.
And now, what forces are there in the world to resist Alberic,
our dwarf, in his new character of sworn plutocrat? He is soon at
work wielding the power of the gold. For his gain, hordes of his
fellow-creatures are thenceforth condemned to slave miserably,
overground and underground, lashed to their work by the invisible
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Essays of Francis Bacon by Francis Bacon: take the opinions of their counsel, both separately
and together. For private opinion is more free;
but opinion before others, is more reverent. In
private, men are more bold in their own humors;
and in consort, men are more obnoxious to others'
humors; therefore it is good to take both; and of
the inferior sort, rather in private, to preserve free-
dom; of the greater, rather in consort, to preserve
respect. It is in vain for princes, to take counsel
concerning matters, if they take no counsel like-
wise concerning persons; for all matters are as
Essays of Francis Bacon |
