| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Stories From the Old Attic by Robert Harris: tried to see the metaphorical application of this event. "This race
is an allegory, isn't it, Father?" he asked, "where we learn that to
succeed we must avoid what appears to be a 'Sure Win' and apply
ourselves instead to the 'Outside Chance.'"
"No, my boy," the man answered. "The lesson is that we should not
pay attention to names and appearances, but that we should penetrate
beneath the surfaces of things; that we must consider real
abilities, evaluate past records, and trust our judgment to bring us
to a knowledge of the truth. Appearances and labels are often false
and seldom accurately reflect inner realities. We must not let our
casual perceptions influence our beliefs or rule our actions. I bet
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Bureaucracy by Honore de Balzac: with himself.
"Madame la comtesse is very good," he said.
"Shall I not have the pleasure of seeing Madame here some Wednesday?"
said the countess. "Pray bring her; it will give me pleasure."
"Madame Rabourdin herself receives on Wednesdays," interrupted des
Lupeaulx, who knew the empty civility of an invitation to the official
Wednesdays; "but since you are so kind as to wish for her, you will
soon give one of your private parties, and--"
The countess rose with some irritation.
"You are the master of my ceremonies," she said to des Lupeaulx,--
ambiguous words, by which she expressed the annoyance she felt with
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy: they had stopped to change horses. She feared that Chauvelin had
spies all along the route, who might overhear her questions, then
outdistance her and warn her enemy of her approach.
Now she wondered at what inn he might be stopping, or whether
he had had the good luck of chartering a vessel already, and was now
himself on the way to France. That thought gripped her at the heart
as with an iron vice. If indeed she should not be too late already!
The loneliness of the room overwhelmed her; everything within
was so horribly still; the ticking of the grandfather's
clock--dreadfully slow and measured--was the only sound which broke
this awful loneliness.
The Scarlet Pimpernel |
