| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lay Morals by Robert Louis Stevenson: the vanity of philosophy or learned to shun it as the middle-
man of heresy - a company of determined, deliberate
opinionists, not to be moved by all the sleights of logic.
What have such men to do with study? If their minds are made
up irrevocably, why burn the 'studious lamp' in search of
further confirmation? Every set opinion I hear a student
deliver I feel a certain lowering of my regard. He who
studies, he who is yet employed in groping for his premises,
should keep his mind fluent and sensitive, keen to mark
flaws, and willing to surrender untenable positions. He
should keep himself teachable, or cease the expensive farce
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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 Mansion by Henry van Dyke: and went up to the Riding Club for his afternoon canter in the
Park.
So it came to pass, early in December, that Mrs. Weightman and
her two daughters sailed for Europe, on their serious pleasure
trip,
even as it had been written in the book of Providence; and John
Weightman,
who had made the entry, was left to pass the rest of the winter
with
his son and heir in the brownstone mansion.
They were comfortable enough. The machinery of the massive
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