| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: of her pleasure till several days later.
The fair was pronounced a success, and when May bade Amy
goodnight, she did not gush as usual, but gave her an affectionate
kiss, and a look which said `forgive and forget'. That satisfied
Amy, and when she got home she found the vases paraded on
the parlor chimney piece with a great bouquet in each. "The
reward of merit for a magnanimous March," as Laurie announced
with a flourish.
"You've a deal more principle and generosity and nobleness
of character than I ever gave you credit for, Amy. You've behaved
sweetly, and I respect you with all my heart," said Jo
Little Women |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Parmenides by Plato: And would you make an idea of man apart from us and from all other human
creatures, or of fire and water?
I am often undecided, Parmenides, as to whether I ought to include them or
not.
And would you feel equally undecided, Socrates, about things of which the
mention may provoke a smile?--I mean such things as hair, mud, dirt, or
anything else which is vile and paltry; would you suppose that each of
these has an idea distinct from the actual objects with which we come into
contact, or not?
Certainly not, said Socrates; visible things like these are such as they
appear to us, and I am afraid that there would be an absurdity in assuming
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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 On Revenues by Xenophon: on some matters of history, and to begin at the beginning,[10] the
Median war. Was it by high-handed violence, or as benefactors of the
Hellenes, that we obtained the headship of the naval forces, and the
trusteeship of the treasury of Hellas?[11] Again, when through the too
cruel exercise of her presidency, as men thought, Athens was deprived
of her empire, is it not the case that even in those days,[12] as soon
as we held aloof from injustice we were once more reinstated by the
islanders, of their own free will, as presidents of the naval force?
Nay, did not the very Thebans, in return for certain benefits, grant
to us Athenians to exercise leadership over them?[13] And at another
date the Lacedaemonans suffered us Athenians to arrange the terms of
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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 Beast in the Jungle by Henry James: sense of difference; and there were hours when, before the temples
of gods and the sepulchres of kings, his spirit turned for
nobleness of association to the barely discriminated slab in the
London suburb. That had become for him, and more intensely with
time and distance, his one witness of a past glory. It was all
that was left to him for proof or pride, yet the past glories of
Pharaohs were nothing to him as he thought of it. Small wonder
then that he came back to it on the morrow of his return. He was
drawn there this time as irresistibly as the other, yet with a
confidence, almost, that was doubtless the effect of the many
months that had elapsed. He had lived, in spite of himself, into
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