| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Deserted Woman by Honore de Balzac: absolved that other of whom I once thought I had a right to complain.
I had not the art to keep him; fate has punished me heavily for my
lack of skill. I only knew how to love; how can one keep oneself in
mind when one loves? So I was a slave when I should have sought to be
a tyrant. Those who know me may condemn me, but they will respect me
too. Pain has taught me that I must not lay myself open to this a
second time. I cannot understand how it is that I am living yet, after
the anguish of that first week of the most fearful crisis in a woman's
life. Only from three years of loneliness would it be possible to draw
strength to speak of that time as I am speaking now. Such agony,
monsieur, usually ends in death; but this--well, it was the agony of
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Daisy Miller by Henry James: her son. "We've got a bigger place than this," said Randolph.
"It's all gold on the walls."
Mrs. Miller turned uneasily in her chair. "I told you if I were to bring you,
you would say something!" she murmured.
"I told YOU!" Randolph exclaimed. "I tell YOU, sir!"
he added jocosely, giving Winterbourne a thump on the knee.
"It IS bigger, too!"
Daisy had entered upon a lively conversation with her hostess;
Winterbourne judged it becoming to address a few words to her mother.
"I hope you have been well since we parted at Vevey," he said.
Mrs. Miller now certainly looked at him--at his chin.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: of them ran away, and, taking to the woods, they could never hear
of him any more. They had good reason to believe he got home again
soon after in some other boats or canoes of savages who came on
shore three or four weeks afterwards, and who, carrying on their
revels as usual, went off in two days' time. This thought
terrified them exceedingly; for they concluded, and that not
without good cause indeed, that if this fellow came home safe among
his comrades, he would certainly give them an account that there
were people in the island, and also how few and weak they were; for
this savage, as observed before, had never been told, and it was
very happy he had not, how many there were or where they lived; nor
Robinson Crusoe |
