| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Some Reminiscences by Joseph Conrad: the diet one prays for, and that would be not only improper, but
impious. From impiety of that or any other kind--save us! An
ideal of reserved manner, adhered to from a sense of proprieties,
from shyness, perhaps, or caution, or simply from weariness,
induces, I suspect, some writers of criticism to conceal the
adventurous side of their calling, and then the criticism becomes
a mere "notice," as it were the relation of a journey where
nothing but the distances and the geology of a new country should
be set down; the glimpses of strange beasts, the dangers of flood
and field, the hair's-breadth escapes, and the sufferings (oh,
the sufferings too! I have no doubt of the sufferings) of the
Some Reminiscences |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Lone Star Ranger by Zane Grey: he might as well content himself with the hard fare that
assuredly would be his lot.
Somewhere up this river there was a village called Huntsville.
It was distant about a hundred miles from Wellston, and had a
reputation throughout southwestern Texas. He had never been
there. The fact was this reputation was such that honest
travelers gave the town a wide berth. Duane had considerable
money for him in his possession, and he concluded to visit
Huntsville, if he could find it, and buy a stock of provisions.
The following day, toward evening, he happened upon a road
which he believed might lead to the village. There were a good
The Lone Star Ranger |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Meno by Plato: BOY: Yes.
SOCRATES: And now I add another square equal to the former one?
BOY: Yes.
SOCRATES: And a third, which is equal to either of them?
BOY: Yes.
SOCRATES: Suppose that we fill up the vacant corner?
BOY: Very good.
SOCRATES: Here, then, there are four equal spaces?
BOY: Yes.
SOCRATES: And how many times larger is this space than this other?
BOY: Four times.
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