| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Dream Life and Real Life by Olive Schreiner: breath heavily.
"Oh, I love him absolutely! I would be glad to die, if only I could once
know that he loved me better than anything in the world!"
The woman stood looking down at her. "Have you never thought of that other
woman; whether she could not perhaps make his life as perfect as you?" she
asked, slowly.
"Oh, no woman ever could be to him what I would be. I would live for him.
He belongs to me." She bent herself forward, not crying, but her shoulders
moving. "It is such a terrible thing to be a woman, to be able to do
nothing and say nothing!"
The woman put her hand on her shoulder; the younger woman looked up into
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Sanitary and Social Lectures by Charles Kingsley: on their trial, and should sigh for a strong despotism.
There is an answer, nevertheless, to such sentimentalists, and one
hopes that people will see the answer for themselves, and that the
infection of Imperialism, which seems spreading somewhat rapidly,
will be stopped by common sense and honest observation of facts.
A despotism doubtless could carry out Sanitary Reform: but
doubtless, also, it would not.
A despot in the nineteenth century knows well how insecure his
tenure is. His motto must be, "Let us eat and drink, for to-
morrow we die;" and, therefore, the first objects of his rule will
be, private luxury and a standing army; while if he engage in
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Essays & Lectures by Oscar Wilde: thought in the usual theological form in which all great ideas seem
to be cradled at their birth.
It was such legends as those of OEdipus and Adrastus, exemplifying
the struggles of individual humanity against the overpowering force
of circumstances and necessity, which gave to the early Greeks
those same lessons which we of modern days draw, in somewhat less
artistic fashion, from the study of statistics and the laws of
physiology.
In Aristotle, of course, there is no trace of supernatural
influence. The Furies, which drive their victim into sin first and
then punishment, are no longer 'viper-tressed goddesses with eyes
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The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from The Memorabilia by Xenophon: Thereupon Socrates: Tell me, Euthydemus, have you ever been to Delphi?
Yes, certainly; twice (said he).
Soc. And did you notice an inscription somewhere on the temple: {GNOMI
SEAUTON}--KNOW THYSELF?
Euth. I did.
Soc. Did you, possibly, pay no regard to the inscription? or did you
give it heed and try to discover who and what you were?
I can safely say I did not (he answered). That much I made quite sure
I knew, at any rate; since if I did not know even myself, what in the
world did I know?
Soc. Can a man be said, do you think, to know himself who knows his
The Memorabilia |
