| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Virginibus Puerisque by Robert Louis Stevenson: conduct, how wisely and boldly he walked, and in what a fresh
and lively vein he spoke of life. Already an old man, he
ventured on his Highland tour; and his heart, bound with
triple brass, did not recoil before twenty-seven individual
cups of tea. As courage and intelligence are the two
qualities best worth a good man's cultivation, so it is the
first part of intelligence to recognise our precarious estate
in life, and the first part of courage to be not at all
abashed before the fact. A frank and somewhat headlong
carriage, not looking too anxiously before, not dallying in
maudlin regret over the past, stamps the man who is well
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin: slight pain, or of any painful emotion, such as grief, vexation, jealousy,
&c., is not easily distinguished from that of moderate anger;
and these states of mind readily and quickly pass into each other.
Grief, however, with some species is certainly exhibited by weeping.
A woman, who sold a monkey to the Zoological Society, believed to have
come from Borneo (_Macacus maurus_ or _M. inornatus_ of Gray), said
that it often cried; and Mr. Bartlett, as well as the keeper Mr. Sutton,
have repeatedly seen it, when grieved, or even when much pitied,
weeping so copiously that the tears rolled down its cheeks.
There is, however, something strange about this case, for two specimens
subsequently kept in the Gardens, and believed to be the same species,
Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Young Forester by Zane Grey: surrounded by fire, and then I got Herky to help me start a back-fire in
that big canyon."
"Back-fire!" exclaimed Dick, slamming the table with his big fist. Then he
settled down and looked at me. Hiram looked at me. Jim looked at me, and
not one of them said a word for what seemed a long time. It brought the
blood to my face. But for all my embarrassment it was sweet praise. At last
Dick broke the silence.
"Ken Ward, this stumps me I . . . Tell us about it."
So I related my adventures from the moment they had left me till we met
again.
"It was a wild boy's trick, Ken--that ride in the very face of fire in a
The Young Forester |
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 On Revenues by Xenophon: The Hellenica 7
The Cyropaedia 8
The Memorabilia 4
The Symposium 1
The Economist 1
On Horsemanship 1
The Sportsman 1
The Cavalry General 1
The Apology 1
On Revenues 1
The Hiero 1
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