| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Hated Son by Honore de Balzac: "By God's grace!" said the old man, with a sigh, "I will take you to
the Chateau d'Herouville, and there you shall take sea-baths to
strengthen you."
"Is that true, father? You are not laughing at your little Gabrielle?
I have so longed to see the castle, and the men-at-arms, and the
captains of monseigneur."
"Yes, my daughter, you shall really go there. Your nurse and Jean
shall accompany you."
"Soon?"
"To-morrow," said the old man, hurrying into the garden to hide his
agitation from his mother and his child.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Iron Puddler by James J. Davis: do not have to forge the iron that resists the invading cyclone
and the leveling earthquake. We could quit cold and let wild
nature kick us about at will. We could have cities of wood to be
wiped out by conflagrations; we could build houses of mud and
sticks for the gales to unroof like a Hottentot village. We could
bridge our small rivers with logs and be flood-bound when the
rains descended. We could live by wheelbarrow transit like the
Chinaman and leave to some braver race the task of belting the
world with railroads and bridging the seas with iron boats.
Nobody compels us to stand shoulder to shoulder and fight off
nature's calamities as the French fought off their oppressor at
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Blue Flower by Henry van Dyke: wondering, and the sweet odour of the balsam filled the house.
Then Winfried stood beside the chair of Gundhar, on the
dais at the end of the hall, and told the story of Bethlehem;
of the babe in the manger, of the shepherds on the hills, of
the host of angels and their midnight song. All the people
listened, charmed into stillness.
But the boy Bernhard, on Irma's knee, folded in her soft
arms, grew restless as the story lengthened, and began to prattle
softly at his mother's ear.
"Mother," whispered the child, "why did you cry out so
loud, when the priest was going to send me to Valhalla?"
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