| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Father Goriot by Honore de Balzac: plod along. A man's affections are just as fully satisfied by the
smallest circle as they can be by a vast circumference. Napoleon
himself could only dine once, and he could not have more
mistresses than a house student at the Capuchins. Happiness, old
man, depends on what lies between the sole of your foot and the
crown of your head; and whether it costs a million or a hundred
louis, the actual amount of pleasure that you receive rests
entirely with you, and is just exactly the same in any case. I am
for letting that Chinaman live."
"Thank you, Bianchon; you have done me good. We will always be
friends."
Father Goriot |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Adam Bede by George Eliot: and stronger...I longed so to go back again...I couldn't bear
being so lonely and coming to beg for want. And it gave me
strength and resolution to get up and dress myself. I felt I must
do it...I didn't know how...I thought I'd find a pool, if I could,
like that other, in the corner of the field, in the dark. And
when the woman went out, I felt as if I was strong enough to do
anything...I thought I should get rid of all my misery, and go
back home, and never let 'em know why I ran away I put on my
bonnet and shawl, and went out into the dark street, with the baby
under my cloak; and I walked fast till I got into a street a good
way off, and there was a public, and I got some warm stuff to
Adam Bede |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Iliad by Homer: Trojans and Lycians saying, "Trojans, Lycians, and Dardanian
warriors, be men, my friends, and acquit yourselves in battle
bravely; their best man has left them, and Jove has vouchsafed me
a great triumph; charge the foe with your chariots that you may
win still greater glory."
With these words he put heart and soul into them all, and as a
huntsman hounds his dogs on against a lion or wild boar, even so
did Hector, peer of Mars, hound the proud Trojans on against the
Achaeans. Full of hope he plunged in among the foremost, and fell
on the fight like some fierce tempest that swoops down upon the
sea, and lashes its deep blue waters into fury.
The Iliad |
