| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin: to think that. Well, whatever bit of a wise man's work is honestly
and benevolently done, that bit is his book or his piece of art. {5}
It is mixed always with evil fragments--ill-done, redundant,
affected work. But if you read rightly, you will easily discover
the true bits, and those ARE the book.
Now books of this kind have been written in all ages by their
greatest men:- by great readers, great statesmen, and great
thinkers. These are all at your choice; and Life is short. You
have heard as much before;--yet have you measured and mapped out
this short life and its possibilities? Do you know, if you read
this, that you cannot read that--that what you lose to-day you
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Meno by Plato: produced (Or, similar to the area so applied.), then one consequence
follows, and if this is impossible then some other; and therefore I wish to
assume a hypothesis before I tell you whether this triangle is capable of
being inscribed in the circle':--that is a geometrical hypothesis. And we
too, as we know not the nature and qualities of virtue, must ask, whether
virtue is or is not taught, under a hypothesis: as thus, if virtue is of
such a class of mental goods, will it be taught or not? Let the first
hypothesis be that virtue is or is not knowledge,--in that case will it be
taught or not? or, as we were just now saying, 'remembered'? For there is
no use in disputing about the name. But is virtue taught or not? or
rather, does not every one see that knowledge alone is taught?
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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 Z. Marcas by Honore de Balzac: Louis XV.; at the same time he could love in secret."
We discovered that, like Pitt, who made England is wife, Marcas bore
France in his heart; he idolized his country; he had not a thought
that was not for his native land. His fury at feeling that he had in
his hands the remedy for the evils which so deeply saddened him, and
could not apply it, ate into his soul, and this rage was increased by
the inferiority of France at that time, as compared with Russia and
England. France a third-rate power! This cry came up again and again
in his conversation. The intestinal disorders of his country had
entered into his soul. All the contests between the Court and the
Chamber, showing, as they did, incessant change and constant
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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 Crisis in Russia by Arthur Ransome: that chaos little by little will engulf the town organism.
Every workman who leaves the town automatically places
himself on the side of the country in that struggle. And
when a town like Moscow loses a third of its working
population in a year, it is impossible not to see that, so far,
the struggle is going in favor of that huge chaotic,
unconscious but immensely powerful countryside. There is
even a danger that the town may become divided against
itself. Just as scarcity of food leads to food speculation, so
the shortage of labor is making possible a sort of
speculation in labor. The urgent need of labor has led to a
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