The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Fisherman's Luck by Henry van Dyke: But what has all this to do with an open fire? I will tell you. It
is at the places along the stream, where the little flames of love
and friendship have been kindled in bygone days, that the past
returns most vividly. These are the altars of remembrance.
It is strange how long a small fire will leave its mark. The
charred sticks, the black coals, do not decay easily. If they lie
well up the hank, out of reach of the spring floods, they will stay
there for years. If you have chanced to build a rough fireplace of
stones from the brook, it seems almost as if it would last forever.
There is a mossy knoll beneath a great butternut-tree on the
Swiftwater where such a fireplace was built four years ago; and
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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 Memorabilia by Xenophon: of those endowed with the highest knowledge; whilst conversely the
people of sinister reputation, the mean and the contemptible, emanate
from some depth of ignorance and dulness. If therefore what you thirst
for is repute and admiration as a statesman, try to make sure of one
accomplishment: in other words, the knowledge as far as in you lies of
what you wish to do.[15] If, indeed, with this to distinguish you from
the rest of the world you venture to concern yourself with state
affairs, it would not surprise me but that you might reach the goal of
your ambition easily.
[14] Or, "to talk of things which he does not know, or to meddle with
them."
 The Memorabilia |