| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce: vocabulary of every competent writer who might not happen to be a
competent reader.
OBSTINATE, adj. Inaccessible to the truth as it is manifest in the
splendor and stress of our advocacy.
The popular type and exponent of obstinacy is the mule, a most
intelligent animal.
OCCASIONAL, adj. Afflicting us with greater or less frequency. That,
however, is not the sense in which the word is used in the phrase
"occasional verses," which are verses written for an "occasion," such
as an anniversary, a celebration or other event. True, they afflict
us a little worse than other sorts of verse, but their name has no
The Devil's Dictionary |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Plain Tales from the Hills by Rudyard Kipling: flesh and blood. Then he beat the kettle-drums with his clenched
fist, and discovered that they were but made of silvered paper and
bamboo. Next, still swearing, he tried to drag the skeleton out of
the saddle, but found that it had been wired into the cantle. The
sight of the Colonel, with his arms round the skeleton's pelvis and
his knee in the old Drum-Horse's stomach, was striking. Not to say
amusing. He worried the thing off in a minute or two, and threw it
down on the ground, saying to the Band:--"Here, you curs, that's
what you're afraid of." The skeleton did not look pretty in the
twilight. The Band-Sergeant seemed to recognize it, for he began to
chuckle and choke. "Shall I take it away, sir?" said the Band-
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Koran: thee judge of what they differ on; then they will not find in
themselves aught to hinder what thou hast decreed, and they will
submit with submission. But had we prescribed for them, 'Kill
yourselves, or go ye forth out of your houses,' they would not have
done it, save only a few of them; but had they done what they are
admonished, then it would have been better for them, and a more firm
assurance.
And then we would surely have brought them from ourselves a mighty
hire, and would have guided them into a right path.
Whoso obeys God and the Apostle, these are with those God has been
pleased with, of prophets and confessors and martyrs and the
The Koran |
