| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Letters of Two Brides by Honore de Balzac: before your time. Your Louis will be happy, I daresay. If he loves
you, of which I make no doubt, he will never find out, that, for the
sake of your family, you are acting as a courtesan does for money; and
certainly men seem to find happiness with them, judging by the
fortunes they squander thus. A keen-sighted husband might no doubt
remain in love with you, but what sort of gratitude could he feel in
the long run for a woman who had made of duplicity a sort of moral
armor, as indispensable as her stays?
Love, dear, is in my eyes the first principle of all the virtues,
conformed to the divine likeness. Like all other first principles, it
is not a matter of arithmetic; it is the Infinite in us. I cannot but
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy: "'Tis master." one of the men whispered, as he neared
them. "We'd better stand quiet -- he'll go in again
directly. He would think it unseemly o' us to be
loitering here.
Boldwood came on, and passed by the men without
seeing them, they being under the bushes on the grass.
He paused, leant over the gate, and breathed a long
breath. They heard low words come from him.
"I hope to God she'll come, or this night will be
nothing but misery to me! O my darling, my darling,
why do you keep me in suspense like this?"
Far From the Madding Crowd |
