| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Gobseck by Honore de Balzac: man of him!' he cried, hoarsely.
"The Countess flung herself at his feet. His face, working with the
last emotions of life, was almost hideous to see.
" 'Mercy! mercy!' she cried aloud, shedding a torrent of tears.
" 'Have you shown me any pity?' he asked. 'I allowed you to squander
your own money, and now do you mean to squander my fortune, too, and
ruin my son?'
" 'Ah! well, yes, have no pity for me, be merciless to me!' she cried.
'But the children? Condemn your widow to live in a convent; I will
obey you; I will do anything, anything that you bid me, to expiate the
wrong I have done you, if that so the children may be happy! The
Gobseck |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Astoria by Washington Irving: the most enlightened statesmen of our country, was favorably
received, but no step was taken in consequence; the President not
being disposed, in all probability, to commit himself by any
direct countenance or overt act. Discouraged by this supineness
on the part of the government, Mr. Astor did not think fit to
renew his overtures in a more formal manner, and the favorable
moment for the re-occupation of Astoria was suffered to pass
unimproved.
The British trading establishments were thus enabled, without
molestation, to strike deep their roots, and extend their
ramifications, in despite of the prohibition of Congress, until
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Soul of the Far East by Percival Lowell: the same parents are never exactly like either their parents or one
another, and they often differ amazingly from both. In such
instances they revert to type, as we say; but inasmuch as the race
is steadily advancing in development, such reversion must resemble
that of an estate which has been greatly improved since its previous
possession. The appearance of the quality is really the sprouting
of a seed whose original germ was in some sense coeval with the
beginning of things. This mind-seed takes root in some cases and
not in others, according to the soil it finds. And as certain
traits develop and others do not, one man turns out very differently
from his neighbor. Such inevitable distinction implies furthermore
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