| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from King Lear by William Shakespeare: ordinary men are fit for, I am qualified in, and the best of
me
is diligence.
Lear. How old art thou?
Kent. Not so young, sir, to love a woman for singing, nor so
old to
dote on her for anything. I have years on my back
forty-eight.
Lear. Follow me; thou shalt serve me. If I like thee no worse
after
dinner, I will not part from thee yet. Dinner, ho, dinner!
King Lear |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Albert Savarus by Honore de Balzac: kindness and sweetness to her mother. Madame de Watteville believed in
this affection on the part of her daughter, who simply desired to go
to Paris to give herself the luxury of a bitter revenge; she thought
of nothing but avenging Savarus by torturing her rival.
Mademoiselle de Watteville had been declared legally of age; she was,
in fact, not far from one-and-twenty. Her mother, to settle with her
finally, had resigned her claims on les Rouxey, and the daughter had
signed a release for all the inheritance of the Baron de Watteville.
Rosalie encouraged her mother to marry the Comte de Soulas and settle
all her own fortune on him.
"Let us each be perfectly free," she said.
Albert Savarus |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Dracula by Bram Stoker: man to attend, say, to banking, and another to look after shipping, in case
local help were needed in a place far from the home of the banking solicitor.
I asked to explain more fully, so that I might not by any chance mislead him,
so he said,
"I shall illustrate. Your friend and mine, Mr. Peter Hawkins,
from under the shadow of your beautiful cathedral at Exeter,
which is far from London, buys for me through your good self
my place at London. Good! Now here let me say frankly, lest you
should think it strange that I have sought the services of one so far
off from London instead of some one resident there, that my motive
was that no local interest might be served save my wish only,
Dracula |
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 Gorgias by Plato: ever show that to do is better than to suffer evil. A man should study to
be, and not merely to seem. If he is bad, he should become good, and avoid
all flattery, whether of the many or of the few.
Follow me, then; and if you are looked down upon, that will do you no harm.
And when we have practised virtue, we will betake ourselves to politics,
but not until we are delivered from the shameful state of ignorance and
uncertainty in which we are at present. Let us follow in the way of virtue
and justice, and not in the way to which you, Callicles, invite us; for
that way is nothing worth.
We will now consider in order some of the principal points of the dialogue.
Having regard (1) to the age of Plato and the ironical character of his
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