| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Soul of Man by Oscar Wilde: hundred men. Five hundred men are, in consequence, thrown out of
employment, and, having no work to do, become hungry and take to
thieving. The one man secures the produce of the machine and keeps
it, and has five hundred times as much as he should have, and
probably, which is of much more importance, a great deal more than
he really wants. Were that machine the property of all, every one
would benefit by it. It would be an immense advantage to the
community. All unintellectual labour, all monotonous, dull labour,
all labour that deals with dreadful things, and involves unpleasant
conditions, must be done by machinery. Machinery must work for us
in coal mines, and do all sanitary services, and be the stoker of
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Economist by Xenophon: persuaded that this is so.
Isch. Yes, Socrates, indeed it is. But I, on my side, must in turn
admit that as regards that faculty which is common alike to every kind
of conduct (tillage, or politics, the art of managing a house, or of
conducting war), the power, namely, of command[1]--I do subscribe to
your opinion, that on this score one set of people differ largely from
another both in point of wit and judgement. On a ship of war, for
instance,[2] the ship is on the high seas, and the crew must row whole
days together to reach moorings.[3] Now note the difference. Here you
may find a captain[4] able by dint of speech and conduct to whet the
souls of those he leads, and sharpen them to voluntary toils; and
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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 Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson:
Treasure Island |
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 Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin: you save for ever? Is this only a little power? Far among the
moorlands and the rocks,--far in the darkness of the terrible
streets,--these feeble florets are lying, with all their fresh
leaves torn, and their stems broken: will you never go down to
them, nor set them in order in their little fragrant beds, nor fence
them in their trembling, from the fierce wind? Shall morning follow
morning, for you, but not for them; and the dawn rise to watch, far
away, those frantic Dances of Death; {28} but no dawn rise to
breathe upon these living banks of wild violet, and woodbine, and
rose; nor call to you, through your casement--call (not giving you
the name of the English poet's lady, but the name of Dante's great
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