| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Louis Lambert by Honore de Balzac: the two products. Volition, he thought, was the Idea evolved from the
abstract state to a concrete state, from its generative fluid to a
solid expression, so to speak, if such words may be taken to formulate
notions so difficult of definition. According to him, the Mind and
Ideas are the motion and the outcome of our inner organization, just
as the Will and Volition are of our external activity.
He gave the Will precedence over the Mind.
"You must will before you can think," he said. "Many beings live in a
condition of Willing without ever attaining to the condition of
Thinking. In the North, life is long; in the South, it is shorter; but
in the North we see torpor, in the South a constant excitability of
Louis Lambert |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Vendetta by Honore de Balzac: my family was told to me. I knew only that I was an orphan, and
without property. Old Colonna was a father to me; and I bore his name
until I entered the army. In order to do that, I had to show my
certificate of birth in order to prove my identity. Colonna then told
me, still a mere child, that I had enemies. And he advised me to take
Luigi as my surname, and so evade them."
"Go, go, Luigi!" cried Ginevra. "No, stay; I must go with you. So long
as you are in my father's house you have nothing to fear; but the
moment you leave it, take care! you will go from danger to danger. My
father has two Corsicans in his service, and if he does not lie in
wait to kill you, they will."
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens: birds, and hum of insects, he left them sleeping in the hut, and
walked into the sweet and pleasant air. But he felt that on his
jaded senses, oppressed and burdened with the dreadful scenes of
last night, and many nights before, all the beauties of opening
day, which he had so often tasted, and in which he had had such
deep delight, fell heavily. He thought of the blithe mornings when
he and the dogs went bounding on together through the woods and
fields; and the recollection filled his eyes with tears. He had no
consciousness, God help him, of having done wrong, nor had he any
new perception of the merits of the cause in which he had been
engaged, or those of the men who advocated it; but he was full of
Barnaby Rudge |
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 The Memorabilia by Xenophon: he more likely to secure his salvation that way, think you, or to
compass his own swift destruction?"[14]
[14] Or, "Is that to choose the path of safety, think you? Is it not
rather to sign his own death-warrent?" L. Dind. cf. Hesiod, "Works
and Days," 293. See Newman, op. cit. i. 393-397.
When some one asked him: "What he regarded as the best pursuit or
business[15] for a man?" he answered: "Successful conduct";[16] and to
a second question: "Did he then regard good fortune as an end to be
pursued?"--"On the contrary," he answered, "for myself, I consider
fortune and conduct to be diametrically opposed. For instance, to
succeed in some desirable course of action without seeking to do so, I
The Memorabilia |
