| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Fantastic Fables by Ambrose Bierce: Cynic. So the Cynic turned out of the road to let the Optimist
roll by in his gold carriage.
"My son," said the Optimist, stopping the gold carriage, "you look
as if you had not a friend in the world."
"I don't know if I have or not," replied the Cynic, "for you have
the world."
The Poet and the Editor
"MY dear sir," said the editor to the man, who had called to see
about his poem, "I regret to say that owing to an unfortunate
altercation in this office the greater part of your manuscript is
illegible; a bottle of ink was upset upon it, blotting out all but
Fantastic Fables |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Proposed Roads To Freedom by Bertrand Russell: class war is the fundamental reality in the present
relations of labor and capital, and that it is by
industrial action, especially by the strike, that
emancipation must be sought. The I. W. W., like the
C. G. T., is not nearly so strong numerically as it is
supposed to be by those who fear it. Its influence
is based, not upon its numbers, but upon its power
of enlisting the sympathies of the workers in moments
of crisis.
The labor movement in America has been characterized
on both sides by very great violence. Indeed,
|
