The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett: She opened the glass door of a little cupboard beside the chimney.
"These I call my best things, dear," she said. "You'd laugh to see
how we enjoy 'em Sunday nights in winter: we have a real company
tea 'stead o' livin' right along just the same, an' I make
somethin' good for a s'prise an' put on some o' my preserves, an'
we get a'talkin' together an' have real pleasant times."
Mrs. Todd laughed indulgently, and looked to see what I
thought of such childishness.
"I wish I could be here some Sunday evening," said I.
"William an' me'll be talkin' about you an' thinkin' o' this
nice day," said Mrs. Blackett affectionately, and she glanced at
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Sophist by Plato: difficulty inherent in the subject is increased by the use of a technical
language. The saying of Socrates respecting the writings of Heracleitus--
'Noble is that which I understand, and that which I do not understand may
be as noble; but the strength of a Delian diver is needed to swim through
it'--expresses the feeling with which the reader rises from the perusal of
Hegel. We may truly apply to him the words in which Plato describes the
Pre-Socratic philosophers: 'He went on his way rather regardless of
whether we understood him or not'; or, as he is reported himself to have
said of his own pupils: 'There is only one of you who understands me, and
he does NOT understand me.'
Nevertheless the consideration of a few general aspects of the Hegelian
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