| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from An International Episode by Henry James: "They do nothing but stop," said Willie Woodley. "It prevents them
from walking. Here comes a great celebrity--Lady Beatrice Bellevue.
She's awfully fast; see what little steps she takes."
"Well, my dear," Mrs. Westgate pursued, "I hope you are getting some ideas
for your couturiere?"
"I am getting plenty of ideas," said Bessie, "but I don't know
that my couturiere would appreciate them."
Willie Woodley presently perceived a friend on horseback,
who drove up beside the barrier of the Row and beckoned to him.
He went forward, and the crowd of pedestrians closed about him,
so that for some ten minutes he was hidden from sight.
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Lysis by Plato: which he would not suffer from himself? And if neither can be of any use
to the other, how can they be loved by one another? Can they now?
They cannot.
And can he who is not loved be a friend?
Certainly not.
But say that the like is not the friend of the like in so far as he is
like; still the good may be the friend of the good in so far as he is good?
True.
But then again, will not the good, in so far as he is good, be sufficient
for himself? Certainly he will. And he who is sufficient wants nothing--
that is implied in the word sufficient.
Lysis |
