| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte: shortly after that hour had struck, the distant roll of wheels
announced the coming coach; I went to the door and watched its lamps
approach rapidly through the gloom.
"Is she going by herself?" asked the porter's wife.
"Yes."
"And how far is it?"
"Fifty miles."
"What a long way! I wonder Mrs. Reed is not afraid to trust her so
far alone."
The coach drew up; there it was at the gates with its four horses
and its top laden with passengers: the guard and coachman loudly
Jane Eyre |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Theaetetus by Plato: themselves; and we can no more get rid of them than we can cease to be
ourselves. The absolute and infinite, whether explained as self-existence,
or as the totality of human thought, or as the Divine nature, if known to
us at all, cannot escape from the category of relation.
But because knowledge is subjective or relative to the mind, we are not to
suppose that we are therefore deprived of any of the tests or criteria of
truth. One man still remains wiser than another, a more accurate observer
and relater of facts, a truer measure of the proportions of knowledge. The
nature of testimony is not altered, nor the verification of causes by
prescribed methods less certain. Again, the truth must often come to a man
through others, according to the measure of his capacity and education.
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