| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Father Goriot by Honore de Balzac: traits are held to be defects in the North; they made the fortune
of Murat, but they likewise cut short his career. The moral would
appear to be that when the dash and boldness of the South side of
the Loire meets, in a southern temperament, with the guile of the
North, the character is complete, and such a man will gain (and
keep) the crown of Sweden.
Rastignac, therefore, could not stand the fire from Vautrin's
batteries for long without discovering whether this was a friend
or a foe. He felt as if this strange being was reading his inmost
soul, and dissecting his feelings, while Vautrin himself was so
close and secretive that he seemed to have something of the
Father Goriot |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Royalty Restored/London Under Charles II by J. Fitzgerald Molloy: backs to be cut and slashed, and with outstretched hands begging
quarter; some, in vain resisting, sold their lives as dear as
they could, whilst the citizens to no purpose prayed, lamented,
and bewailed. All the streets are strewed with dead and mangled
bodies. Here were to be seen some that begged relief, and then
again others weltering in their own gore, who desired that at
once an end might be put to their lives and miseries. The dead
bodies lay unburied for the space of three days or more, which
was a loathsome spectacle that increased the horror of the
action."
Concerning his subsequent dangers and narrow escapes, the king,
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from De Profundis by Oscar Wilde: depending on a careful calculation of ways and means, always know
where they are going, and go there. They start with the ideal
desire of being the parish beadle, and in whatever sphere they are
placed they succeed in being the parish beadle and no more. A man
whose desire is to be something separate from himself, to be a
member of Parliament, or a successful grocer, or a prominent
solicitor, or a judge, or something equally tedious, invariably
succeeds in being what he wants to be. That is his punishment.
Those who want a mask have to wear it.
But with the dynamic forces of life, and those in whom those
dynamic forces become incarnate, it is different. People whose
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