| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Ancient Regime by Charles Kingsley: state; and the Eastern scheik, with his wives, free and slave, and
his hundreds of fighting men born in his house, is the type of all
primaeval rulers. He is the best man of his horde--in every sense
of the word best; and whether he have a right to rule them or not,
they consider that he has, and are the better men for his guidance.
Whether this ought to have been the history of primaeval
civilisation, is a question not to be determined here. That it is
the history thereof, is surely patent to anyone who will imagine to
himself what must have been. In the first place, the strongest and
cunningest savage must have had the chance of producing children
more strong and cunning than the average; he would have--the
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Alcibiades I by Plato: not; tell me, then, who this instructor is, if he exists.
ALCIBIADES: But, perhaps, he does not exist; may I not have acquired the
knowledge of just and unjust in some other way?
SOCRATES: Yes; if you have discovered them.
ALCIBIADES: But do you not think that I could discover them?
SOCRATES: I am sure that you might, if you enquired about them.
ALCIBIADES: And do you not think that I would enquire?
SOCRATES: Yes; if you thought that you did not know them.
ALCIBIADES: And was there not a time when I did so think?
SOCRATES: Very good; and can you tell me how long it is since you thought
that you did not know the nature of the just and the unjust? What do you
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Nana, Miller's Daughter, Captain Burle, Death of Olivier Becaille by Emile Zola: three nibbling burnt almonds. A box opener was chatting maternally
with them. Lucy fell out with the journalist. He was a pretty
fellow; to be sure! He went up to see other women and didn't even
come and ask if they were thirsty! Then, changing the subject:
"You know, dear boy, I think Nana very nice."
She wanted him to stay in the stage box for the last act, but he
made his escape, promising to catch them at the door afterward.
Downstairs in front of the theater Fauchery and La Faloise lit
cigarettes. A great gathering blocked the sidewalk, a stream of men
who had come down from the theater steps and were inhaling the fresh
night air in the boulevards, where the roar and battle had
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