| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Muse of the Department by Honore de Balzac: languishing. The elder brother took a fancy to him; he was the fourth
clerk in the office, but strongly attracted by the snares of literary
fame, though destined to succeed his father. The younger sister was
twelve years old. Lousteau, assuming a little Jesuitical air, played
the Monarchist and Churchman for the benefit of the mother, was quite
smooth, deliberate, and complimentary.
Within three weeks of their introduction, at his fourth dinner there,
Felicie Cardot, who had been watching Lousteau out of the corner of
her eye, carried him a cup of coffee where he stood in the window
recess, and said in a low voice, with tears in her eyes:
"I will devote my whole life, monsieur, to thanking you for your
The Muse of the Department |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Where There's A Will by Mary Roberts Rinehart: "What'll it do to me?" she asked. "Mixed drinks always play the
deuce with me, Barnes, and you know it."
"If you'll cut down your diet and take some exercise it will make
you thin," I began. "`The process is painless and certain:
kindly nature in her benevolent plan--'"
"Give me another!" she interrupted, and Doctor Barnes filled her
glass again. "Some women spell fate f-a-t-e," she said, looking
at the water, "but I spell it without the e."
She took half of it and then put down the glass. "Honestly," she
declared, "I'd rather be fat."
Mr. Pierce met them there a few minutes later and they had a
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Little Rivers by Henry van Dyke: the noble forest-trees to shade his house. But then, when the
farmer came into the wilderness he was not a farmer, he was first
of all a wood-chopper. He regarded the forest as a stubborn enemy
in possession of his land. He attacked it with fire and axe and
exterminated it, instead of keeping a few captives to hold their
green umbrellas over his head when at last his grain fields should
be smiling around him and he should sit down on his doorstep to
smoke a pipe of home-grown tobacco.
In the time of adversity one should prepare for prosperity. I
fancy there are a good many people unconsciously repeating the
mistake of the Canadian farmer--chopping down all the native
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