| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini: further shake the already sorely shaken prestige of Royalty.
And so the Court, growing momentarily wise again under the spur of
fear, preferred to temporize. Necker should be brought back yet
once again, the three orders should sit united as the National
Assembly demanded. It was the completest surrender of force to
force, the only argument. The King went alone to inform the
National Assembly of that eleventh-hour resolve, to the great
comfort of its members, who viewed with pain and alarm the dreadful
state of things in Paris. "No force but the force of reason and
argument" was their watchword, and it was so to continue for two
years yet, with a patience and fortitude in the face of ceaseless
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin: had long been harass'd, they might have been pleas'd if I would
voluntarily have left them; but they did not care to displace me
on account merely of my zeal for the association, and they could
not well give another reason.
Indeed I had some cause to believe that the defense of the country
was not disagreeable to any of them, provided they were not requir'd
to assist in it. And I found that a much greater number of them
than I could have imagined, tho' against offensive war, were clearly
for the defensive. Many pamphlets pro and con were publish'd
on the subject, and some by good Quakers, in favour of defense,
which I believe convinc'd most of their younger people.
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli: Caracalla, and Maximinus, you will find them all cruel and rapacious--
men who, to satisfy their soldiers, did not hesitate to commit every
kind of iniquity against the people; and all, except Severus, came to
a bad end; but in Severus there was so much valour that, keeping the
soldiers friendly, although the people were oppressed by him, he
reigned successfully; for his valour made him so much admired in the
sight of the soldiers and people that the latter were kept in a way
astonished and awed and the former respectful and satisfied. And
because the actions of this man, as a new prince, were great, I wish
to show briefly that he knew well how to counterfeit the fox and the
lion, which natures, as I said above, it is necessary for a prince to
The Prince |
