| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The New Machiavelli by H. G. Wells: matter upon which competition is possible, because she attended
sedulously to her collective mind for sixty pregnant years, because
in spite of tremendous defects she is still far more anxious for
quality in achievement than we are. I remember saying that in my
paper. From that, I remember, I went on to an image that had
flashed into my mind. "The British Empire," I said, "is like some
of those early vertebrated monsters, the Brontosaurus and the
Atlantosaurus and such-like; it sacrifices intellect to character;
its backbone, that is to say,--especially in the visceral region--is
bigger than its cranium. It's no accident that things are so.
We've worked for backbone. We brag about backbone, and if the
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Silverado Squatters by Robert Louis Stevenson: Dwarf pines not big enough to be Christmas trees, grew thinly
among loose stone and gravel scaurs. Here and there a big
boulder sat quiescent on a knoll, having paused there till
the next rain in his long slide down the mountain. There was
here no ambuscade for the snakes, you could see clearly where
you trod; and yet the higher I went, the more abject and
appealing became Chuchu's terror. He was an excellent master
of that composite language in which dogs communicate with
men, and he would assure me, on his honour, that there was
some peril on the mountain; appeal to me, by all that I held
holy, to turn back; and at length, finding all was in vain,
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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 The United States Constitution: and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite
for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislature.
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the
Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a citizen of the United States,
and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which
he shall be chosen.
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among
the several States which may be included within this Union,
according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined
by adding to the whole number of free Persons, including those
bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed,
The United States Constitution |
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 God The Invisible King by H. G. Wells: aim. It is completer and more intimate, but it is like standing
side by side with and touching someone that we love very dearly and
trust completely. It is as if this being bridged a thousand
misunderstandings and brought us into fellowship with a great
multitude of other people. . . .
"Closer he is than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet."
The moment may come while we are alone in the darkness, under the
stars, or while we walk by ourselves or in a crowd, or while we sit
and muse. It may come upon the sinking ship or in the tumult of the
battle. There is no saying when it may not come to us. . . . But
after it has come our lives are changed, God is with us and there is
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