| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Theaetetus by Plato: men sought to explain the human mind without regard to history or language
or the social nature of man.
In every act of sense there is a latent perception of space, of which we
only become conscious when objects are withdrawn from it. There are
various ways in which we may trace the connexion between them. We may
think of space as unresisting matter, and of matter as divided into
objects; or of objects again as formed by abstraction into a collective
notion of matter, and of matter as rarefied into space. And motion may be
conceived as the union of there and not there in space, and force as the
materializing or solidification of motion. Space again is the individual
and universal in one; or, in other words, a perception and also a
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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 Lone Star Ranger by Zane Grey: Throwin' a gun in self-defense--thet ain't no crime!"
Duane, finding relief in talking, told more about himself.
"Huh," replied the old man. "I've been on this river fer years,
an' I've seen hundreds of boys come in on the dodge. Most of
them, though, was no good. An' thet kind don't last long. This
river country has been an' is the refuge fer criminals from all
over the states. I've bunked with bank cashiers, forgers, plain
thieves, an' out-an'-out murderers, all of which had no bizness
on the Texas border. Fellers like Bland are exceptions. He's no
Texan--you seen thet. The gang he rules here come from all
over, an' they're tough cusses, you can bet on thet. They live
 The Lone Star Ranger |