| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Man against the Sky by Edwin Arlington Robinson: Because the weight of our humility,
Wherefrom we gain
A little wisdom and much pain,
Falls here too sore and there too tedious,
Are we in anguish or complacency,
Not looking far enough ahead
To see by what mad couriers we are led
Along the roads of the ridiculous,
To pity ourselves and laugh at faith
And while we curse life bear it?
And if we see the soul's dead end in death,
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Letters from England by Elizabeth Davis Bancroft: These remnants of the BELLES-ESPRITS of the last age are charming to
me. They have a vast and long experience of the best social
circles, with native wit, and constant practice in the conversation
of society. . . . On Wednesday, we dined at Sir Robert Peel's, with
whom I was more charmed than with anybody I have seen yet. I sat
between him and the Speaker of the House of Commons. I was told
that he was stiff and stately in his manners, but did not think him
so, and am inclined to imagine that free from the burden of the
Premiership, he unbends more. He talked constantly with me, and in
speaking of a certain picture said, "When you come to Drayton Manor
I shall show it to you." I should like to go there, but to see
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Symposium by Plato: mankind, with the exception of Socrates, yourself first of all, true in
this to your old name, which, however deserved, I know not how you
acquired, of Apollodorus the madman; for you are always raging against
yourself and everybody but Socrates.
APOLLODORUS: Yes, friend, and the reason why I am said to be mad, and out
of my wits, is just because I have these notions of myself and you; no
other evidence is required.
COMPANION: No more of that, Apollodorus; but let me renew my request that
you would repeat the conversation.
APOLLODORUS: Well, the tale of love was on this wise:--But perhaps I had
better begin at the beginning, and endeavour to give you the exact words of
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