| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from On Revenues by Xenophon: not, your efforts will find a response in the hearts of all. There is
no man but will pray for the salvation of Athens next to that of his
own fatherland.
[16] "Autonomy."
[17] See Thuc. v. 18, clause 2 of the Treaty of Peace, B.C. 422-421.
[18] Reading, with Zurborg, {peironto}. Or, if the vulgate
{epeironto}, transl. "against those who sought to step."
Again, is any one persuaded that, looking solely to riches and money-
making, the state may find war more profitable than peace? If so, I
cannot conceive a better method to decide that question than to allow
the mind to revert[19] to the past history of the state and to note
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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 Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart: "I am not hungry," she said, "but perhaps a cup of coffee - dear me,
I believe I am hungry," she finished. "Only - " She glanced back
of her.
"I can bring your companion," I suggested, without enthusiasm. But
the young woman shook her head.
"She is not hungry," she objected, "and she is very - well, I know
she wouldn't come. Do you suppose we could make it if we run?"
"I haven't any idea," I said cheerfully. "Any old train would be
better than this one, if it does leave us behind."
"Yes. Any train would be better than this one," she repeated
gravely. I found myself watching her changing expression. I had
The Man in Lower Ten |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbot: be neglected, and that, if they intended to accept the Colour Bill,
they ought at least to do so with full view of the consequences.
Many of them, he said, were on the point of being admitted to
the class of the Regular Triangles; others anticipated
for their children a distinction they could not hope for themselves.
That honourable ambition would now have to be sacrificed.
With the universal adoption of Colour, all distinctions would cease;
Regularity would be confused with Irregularity; development would
give place to retrogression; the Workman would in a few generations
be degraded to the level of the Military, or even the Convict Class;
political power would be in the hands of the greatest number,
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions |
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 The Door in the Wall, et. al. by H. G. Wells: the suck and thud of their pistons, the dull beat on the air as the
spokes of the great driving-wheels came round, a note the leather
straps made as they ran tighter and looser, and a fretful tumult
from the dynamos; and over all, sometimes inaudible, as the ear
tired of it, and then creeping back upon the senses again, was this
trombone note of the big machine. The floor never felt steady and
quiet beneath one's feet, but quivered and jarred. It was a
confusing, unsteady place, and enough to send anyone's thoughts
jerking into odd zigzags. And for three months, while the big
strike of the engineers was in progress, Holroyd, who was a
blackleg, and Azuma-zi, who was a mere black, were never out of the
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