| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry: are wisest. They are the magi.
End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of THE GIFT OF THE MAGI.
The Gift of the Magi |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Democracy In America, Volume 1 by Alexis de Toqueville: benefits, and the idea of evil is inseparable in their minds from
that of novelty.
Not far from this class is another party, whose object is to
materialize mankind, to hit upon what is expedient without
heeding what is just, to acquire knowledge without faith, and
prosperity apart from virtue; assuming the title of the champions
of modern civilization, and placing themselves in a station which
they usurp with insolence, and from which they are driven by
their own unworthiness. Where are we then? The religionists are
the enemies of liberty, and the friends of liberty attack
religion; the high- minded and the noble advocate subjection, and
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