| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Gorgias by Plato: their original possessions; not that you are the authors of these
misfortunes of theirs, although you may perhaps be accessories to them. A
great piece of work is always being made, as I see and am told, now as of
old; about our statesmen. When the State treats any of them as
malefactors, I observe that there is a great uproar and indignation at the
supposed wrong which is done to them; 'after all their many services to the
State, that they should unjustly perish,'--so the tale runs. But the cry
is all a lie; for no statesman ever could be unjustly put to death by the
city of which he is the head. The case of the professed statesman is, I
believe, very much like that of the professed sophist; for the sophists,
although they are wise men, are nevertheless guilty of a strange piece 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 Stories From the Old Attic by Robert Harris: face, and no doubt he thought, "What a sight she is."
Well, I've told you this story as evidence of the foolishness and
irrationality of the human heart. For now observe the consequent:
The first young lady, naturally concerned for her safety and
realizing that she possessed knowledge that her young man did not,
quite reasonably chose to change the tire. However, the young man,
fool that he was, was never seen escorting this capable and logical
young lady again.
The second young lady, very sensibly concerned about preserving an
expensive dress and realizing that she would be of little or no help
to her young man, showed a similar wisdom in avoiding what she knew
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