| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Crowd by Gustave le Bon: were under the empire of a powerful historical suggestion. The
task of the philosopher is to investigate what it is which
subsists of ancient beliefs beneath their apparent changes, and
to identify amid the moving flux of opinions the part determined
by general beliefs and the genius of the race.
In the absence of this philosophic test it might be supposed that
crowds change their political or religious beliefs frequently and
at will. All history, whether political, religious, artistic, or
literary, seems to prove that such is the case.
As an example, let us take a very short period of French history,
merely that from 1790 to 1820, a period of thirty years'
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar by Edgar Rice Burroughs: report of the weapon he had fired the night before.
Then six husky blacks carried the body out into the
clearing where the camp stood, and deposited it in a
shallow grave. As the loose earth fell upon the silent
form beneath the tell-tale blankets, Albert Werper
heaved another sigh of relief--his plan had worked out
even better than he had dared hope.
With Achmet Zek and Mohammed Beyd both dead, the
raiders were without a leader, and after a brief
conference they decided to return into the north on
visits to the various tribes to which they belonged,
Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar |
