| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis: "That's right, brother. And just look at collars, frinstance--"
"Hey! Wait!" the fat man protested. "What's the matter with collars? I'm
selling collars! D' you realize the cost of labor on collars is still two
hundred and seven per cent. above--"
They voted that if their old friend the fat man sold collars, then the price
of collars was exactly what it should be; but all other clothing was
tragically too expensive. They admired and loved one another now. They went
profoundly into the science of business, and indicated that the purpose of
manufacturing a plow or a brick was so that it might be sold. To them, the
Romantic Hero was no longer the knight, the wandering poet, the cowpuncher,
the aviator, nor the brave young district attorney, but the great
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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 Shadow out of Time by H. P. Lovecraft: organic life. A few added likenesses came through conscious adoption
as the Great Race probed the future and copied what it liked.
Industry, highly mechanised, demanded but little time from each
citizen; and the abundant leisure was filled with intellectual
and aesthetic activities of various sorts.
The sciences were
carried to an unbelievable height of development, and art was
a vital part of life, though at the period of my dreams it had
passed its crest and meridian. Technology was enormously stimulated
through the constant struggle to survive, and to keep in existence
the physical fabric of great cities, imposed by the prodigious
 Shadow out of Time |