| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from On Revenues by Xenophon: Thus[45] I am persuaded that the easiest method of carrying out this
scheme, as a whole, is also the best. If, however, you are persuaded
that, owing to the extraordinary property taxes[46] to which you have
been subjected during the present war, you will not be equal to any
further contributions at present,[47] what you should do is this:[48]
during the current year resolve to carry on the financial
administration of the state within the limits of a sum equivalent to
that which your dues[49] realised before the peace. That done, you are
at liberty to take any surplus sum, whether directly traceable to the
peace itself, or to the more courteous treatment of our resident
aliens and traders, or to the growth of the imports and exports,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Intentions by Oscar Wilde: nothing that can do the soul harm, the soul being an entity so
divine that it is able to transform into elements of a richer
experience, or a finer susceptibility, or a newer mode of thought,
acts or passions that with the common would be commonplace, or with
the uneducated ignoble, or with the shameful vile. Is this
dangerous? Yes; it is dangerous - all ideas, as I told you, are
so. But the night wearies, and the light flickers in the lamp.
One more thing I cannot help saying to you. You have spoken
against Criticism as being a sterile thing. The nineteenth century
is a turning point in history, simply on account of the work of two
men, Darwin and Renan, the one the critic of the Book of Nature,
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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 When the Sleeper Wakes by H. G. Wells: and then stood up abruptly; he grasped the arm of this
shouting person.
"Tell me !" he cried. " Who am I? Who am I?"
The others came nearer to hear his words. "Who
am I?" His eyes searched their faces.
"They have told him nothing!" cried the girl.
"Tell me, tell me !" cried Graham.
"You are the Master of the Earth. You are owner
of half the world."
He did not believe he heard aright. He resisted
the persuasion. He pretended not to understand, not
When the Sleeper Wakes |
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 Dynamiter by Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny Van De Grift Stevenson: the horrors of a Mormon caravan, I must not stay to tell you.
Let it suffice, that even in these untoward circumstances,
she found a heart worthy of her own. The ardour of
attachment which united my father and mother was perhaps
partly due to the strange manner of their meeting; it knew,
at least, no bounds either divine or human; my father, for
her sake, determined to renounce his ambitions and abjure his
faith; and a week had not yet passed upon the march before he
had resigned from his party, accepted the Mormon doctrine,
and received the promise of my mother's hand on the arrival
of the party at Salt Lake.
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