| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Spirit of the Border by Zane Grey: red embers; the crackling of dry stocks; the sweet smell of wood smoke, all
had for the lad a subtle, potent charm.
The hunter would broil a venison steak, or a partridge, on the coals. Then
they would light their pipes and smoke while twilight deepened. The oppressive
stillness of the early evening hour always brought to the younger man a
sensation of awe. At first he attributed this to the fact that he was new to
this life; however, as the days passed and the emotion remained, nay, grew
stronger, he concluded it was imparted by this close communion with nature.
Deep solemn, tranquil, the gloaming hour brought him no ordinary fullness of
joy and clearness of perception.
"Do you ever feel this stillness?" he asked Wetzel one evening, as they sat
The Spirit of the Border |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau: yourself always tucked up and ready for a start, and not
have many affairs. A man may grow rich in Turkey even, if
he will be in all respects a good subject of the Turkish
government. Confucius said: "If a state is governed by the
principles of reason, poverty and misery are subjects of
shame; if a state is not governed by the principles of
reason, riches and honors are subjects of shame." No: until
I want the protection of Massachusetts to be extended to me
in some distant Southern port, where my liberty is
endangered, or until I am bent solely on building up an
estate at home by peaceful enterprise, I can afford to
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience |
