| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Gentle Grafter by O. Henry: useful, just as Wall Street does the Secretary of the Treasury now and
then.
"When we went down stairs we saw we was in the midst of the finest
farming section we ever see. About two miles away on a hill was a big
white house in a grove surrounded by a wide-spread agricultural
agglomeration of fields and barns and pastures and out-houses.
"'Whose house is that?' we asked the landlord.
"'That,' says he, 'is the domicile and the arboreal, terrestrial and
horticultural accessories of Farmer Ezra Plunkett, one of our
country's most progressive citizens.'
"After breakfast me and Andy, with eight cents capital left, casts the
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Fisherman's Luck by Henry van Dyke: But whichever theory you adopt, in practice, if you are a wise
fisherman, you will steer a middle course, between one thing which
must be left undone and another thing which should be done. You
will refrain from stamping on the bank, or knocking on the side of
the boat, or dragging the anchor among the stones on the bottom; for
when the water vibrates the fish are likely to vanish. But you will
indulge as freely as you please in pleasant discourse with your
comrade; for it is certain that fishing is never hindered, and may
even be helped, in one way or another, by good talk.
I should therefore have no hesitation in advising any one to choose,
for companionship on an angling expedition, long or short, a person
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde: LORD CAVERSHAM. It is the secret of your mother's happiness. You
are very heartless, sir, very heartless.
LORD GORING. I hope not, father.
[Goes out for a moment. Then returns, looking rather put out, with
SIR ROBERT CHILTERN.]
SIR ROBERT CHILTERN. My dear Arthur, what a piece of good luck
meeting you on the doorstep! Your servant had just told me you were
not at home. How extraordinary!
LORD GORING. The fact is, I am horribly busy to-night, Robert, and I
gave orders I was not at home to any one. Even my father had a
comparatively cold reception. He complained of a draught the whole
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