| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy: seemed to hear her voice. "How can you?" she
went on saying in his imagination, with her pe-
culiar lisping voice. Stepan saw over again and
over again before him all he had done to her. In
horror he shut his eyes, and shook his hairy head,
to drive away these thoughts and recollections.
For a moment he would get rid of them, but in
their place horrid black faces with red eyes ap-
peared and frightened him continuously. They
grinned at him, and kept repeating, "Now you
have done away with her you must do away with
The Forged Coupon |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Time Machine by H. G. Wells: organized, and still better. That is the drift of the current in
spite of the eddies. The whole world will be intelligent,
educated, and co-operating; things will move faster and faster
towards the subjugation of Nature. In the end, wisely and
carefully we shall readjust the balance of animal and vegetable
me to suit our human needs.
`This adjustment, I say, must have been done, and done well;
done indeed for all Time, in the space of Time across which my
machine had leaped. The air was free from gnats, the earth from
weeds or fungi; everywhere were fruits and sweet and delightful
flowers; brilliant butterflies flew hither and thither. The
The Time Machine |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Meno by Plato: fastened, they are of great value, for they are really beautiful works of
art. Now this is an illustration of the nature of true opinions: while
they abide with us they are beautiful and fruitful, but they run away out
of the human soul, and do not remain long, and therefore they are not of
much value until they are fastened by the tie of the cause; and this
fastening of them, friend Meno, is recollection, as you and I have agreed
to call it. But when they are bound, in the first place, they have the
nature of knowledge; and, in the second place, they are abiding. And this
is why knowledge is more honourable and excellent than true opinion,
because fastened by a chain.
MENO: What you are saying, Socrates, seems to be very like the truth.
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