| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Wife, et al by Anton Chekhov: an atmosphere of youth, of home, of feminine softness, of the
most refined elegance -- exactly what was lacking on my floor and
in my life altogether. My wife was wearing a pink flannel
dressing-gown; it made her look much younger, and gave a softness
to her rapid and sometimes abrupt movements. Her beautiful dark
hair, the mere sight of which at one time stirred me to passion,
had from sitting so long with her head bent c ome loose from the
comb and was untidy, but, to my eyes, that only made it look more
rich and luxuriant. All this, though is banal to the point of
vulgarity. Before me stood an ordinary woman, perhaps neither
beautiful nor elegant, but this was my wife with whom I had once
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln: But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate. . .we cannot consecrate. . .
we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead,
who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power
to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember,
what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished
work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining
before us. . .that from these honored dead we take increased devotion
to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. . .
that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. . .
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Ivanhoe by Walter Scott: followed the dead-alive up to the stranger's apartment
attended by as many of the guests, male and
female, as could squeeze into the small room, while
others, crowding the staircase, caught up an erroneous
edition of the story, and transmitted it still
more inaccurately to those beneath, who again sent
it forth to the vulgar without, in a fashion totally
irreconcilable to the real fact. Athelstane, however,
went on as follows, with the history of his
escape:---
``Finding myself freed from the staple, I dragged
 Ivanhoe |