| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Lily of the Valley by Honore de Balzac: With the eagerness of a child I rushed into the long antechamber which
crosses the whole house.
"Come in, gentlemen," said a golden voice.
Though Madame de Mortsauf had spoken only one word at the ball, I
recognized her voice, which entered my soul and filled it as a ray of
sunshine fills and gilds a prisoner's dungeon. Thinking, suddenly,
that she might remember my face, my first impulse was to fly; but it
was too late,--she appeared in the doorway, and our eyes met. I know
not which of us blushed deepest. Too much confused for immediate
speech she returned to her seat at an embroidery frame while the
servant placed two chairs, then she drew out her needle and counted
The Lily of the Valley |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Oscar Wilde Miscellaneous by Oscar Wilde: PREFACE BY ROBERT ROSS
'As to my personal attitude towards criticism, I confess in brief
the following:- "If my works are good and of any importance whatever
for the further development of art, they will maintain their place
in spite of all adverse criticism and in spite of all hateful
suspicions attached to my artistic intentions. If my works are of
no account, the most gratifying success of the moment and the most
enthusiastic approval of as augurs cannot make them endure. The
waste-paper press can devour them as it has devoured many others,
and I will not shed a tear . . . and the world will move on just the
same."'--RICHARD STRAUSS.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Odyssey by Homer: which thy heart is set shall not long be lacking to
thee--so faithful a friend of thy father am I, who will
furnish thee a swift ship and myself be thy companion. But
go thou to the house, and consort with the wooers, and make
ready corn, and bestow all in vessels, the wine in jars and
barley-flour, the marrow of men, in well-sewn skins; and I
will lightly gather in the township a crew that offer
themselves willingly. There are many ships, new and old, in
seagirt Ithaca; of these I will choose out the best for
thee, and we will quickly rig her and launch her on the
broad deep.'
The Odyssey |
