| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Salome by Oscar Wilde: Ainsi dansez pour moi. Dansez pour moi, Salome, je vous supplie.
Si vous dansez pour moi vous pourrez me demander tout ce que vous
voudrez et je vous le donnerai. Oui, dansez pour moi, Salome, et je
vous donnerai tout ce que vous me demanderez, fut-ce la moitie de
mon royaume.
SALOME [se levant] Vous me donnerez tout ce que je demanderai,
tetrarque?
HERODIAS. Ne dansez pas, ma fille.
HERODE. Tout, fut-ce la moitie de mon royaume.
SALOME. Vous le jurez, tetrarque?
HERODE. Je le jure, Salome.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Gorgias by Plato: order, or of a church in which during many ages falsehood has been
accumulating, and everything has been said on one side, and nothing on the
other. The conventions and customs which we observe in conversation, and
the opposition of our interests when we have dealings with one another
('the buyer saith, it is nought--it is nought,' etc.), are always obscuring
our sense of truth and right. The sophistry of human nature is far more
subtle than the deceit of any one man. Few persons speak freely from their
own natures, and scarcely any one dares to think for himself: most of us
imperceptibly fall into the opinions of those around us, which we partly
help to make. A man who would shake himself loose from them, requires
great force of mind; he hardly knows where to begin in the search after
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