| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Cavalry General by Xenophon: [5] A "parfait marechal."
He must also, as it appears to me, be capable of great physical
endurance;[6] since clearly, if he has to run full tilt against an
armament present, as we picture, in such force that not even our whole
state cares to cope with it, it is plain he must accept whatever fate
is due, where might is right, himself unable to retaliate.
[6] So Jason, "Hell." VI. i. 4.
If, on the contrary, he elect to guard the territory outside the
walls[7] with a number just sufficient to keep a look-out on the
enemy, and to withdraw into safe quarters from a distance whatever
needs protection--a small number, be it observed, is just as capable
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Market-Place by Harold Frederic: What other people thought of him--how other people
liked or disliked him--was of no earthly importance.
Whenever he chose to exert himself, he could compel from
them the behaviour that he desired. It was their dull
inability to read character which prompted them to regard him
as merely a rich outsider who had married Edith Cressage.
He viewed with a comfortable tolerance this infirmity
of theirs. When the time came, if he wanted to do so,
he could awaken them to their delusion as by forked lightning
and the burst of thunder.
The whim came to him, and expanded swiftly into a determination,
The Market-Place |
