| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Meno by Plato: rest of the world; and I confess with shame that I know literally nothing
about virtue; and when I do not know the 'quid' of anything how can I know
the 'quale'? How, if I knew nothing at all of Meno, could I tell if he was
fair, or the opposite of fair; rich and noble, or the reverse of rich and
noble? Do you think that I could?
MENO: No, indeed. But are you in earnest, Socrates, in saying that you do
not know what virtue is? And am I to carry back this report of you to
Thessaly?
SOCRATES: Not only that, my dear boy, but you may say further that I have
never known of any one else who did, in my judgment.
MENO: Then you have never met Gorgias when he was at Athens?
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain: who was now doing the biographies in his turn while the brunette one rested:
"If it ain't asking what I ought not to ask, Mr. Angelo, how did you
come to be so friendless and in such trouble when you were little?
Do you mind telling? But don't, if you do."
"Oh, we don't mind it at all, madam; in our case it was merely misfortune,
and nobody's fault. Our parents were well to do, there in Italy,
and we were their only child. We were of the old Florentine nobility"--
Rowena's heart gave a great bound, her nostrils expanded,
and a fine light played in her eyes--"and when the war broke out,
my father was on the losing side and had to fly for his life.
His estates were confiscated, his personal property seized, and there
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Eugenie Grandet by Honore de Balzac: Then, by way of celebrating the new year, he kissed her on the
forehead.
"Eugenie," cried the mother, when Grandet was fairly gone, "I don't
know which side of the bed your father got out of, but he is good-
tempered this morning. Perhaps we shall come out safe after all?"
"What's happened to the master?" said Nanon, entering her mistress's
room to light the fire. "First place, he said, 'Good-morning; happy
New Year, you big fool! Go and light my wife's fire, she's cold'; and
then, didn't I feel silly when he held out his hand and gave me a six-
franc piece, which isn't worn one bit? Just look at it, madame! Oh,
the kind man! He is a good man, that's a fact. There are some people
Eugenie Grandet |
