| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau: it is not even a minority then; but it is irresistible when
it clogs by its whole weight. If the alternative is to keep
all just men in prison, or give up war and slavery, the
State will not hesitate which to choose. If a thousand men
were not to pay their tax bills this year, that would not be
a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them,
and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent
blood. This is, in fact, the definition of a peaceable
revolution, if any such is possible. If the tax-gatherer,
or any other public officer, asks me, as one has done, "But
what shall I do?" my answer is, "If you really wish to do
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Art of War by Sun Tzu: supposition to which the unusual shortness of the chapter lends
some weight.]
1. Sun Tzu said: In war, the general receives his
commands from the sovereign, collects his army and concentrates
his forces.
[Repeated from VII. ss. 1, where it is certainly more in
place. It may have been interpolated here merely in order to
supply a beginning to the chapter.]
2. When in difficult country, do not encamp. In country
where high roads intersect, join hands with your allies. Do not
linger in dangerously isolated positions.
The Art of War |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Muse of the Department by Honore de Balzac: seize the moment when his prey, whose readiness to be caught was
hidden under the abstraction caused by irresolution, should be quite
dizzy.
Dinah wished to show La Baudraye to her two visitors, and the farce
was duly played out of remembering the papers left by Bianchon in his
room at Anzy. Gatien flew off at a gallop to obey his sovereign;
Madame Piedefer went to do some shopping in Sancerre; and Dinah went
on to Cosne alone with the two friends. Lousteau took his seat by the
lady, Bianchon riding backwards. The two friends talked affectionately
and with deep compassion for the fate of this choice nature so ill
understood and in the midst of such vulgar surroundings. Bianchon
The Muse of the Department |
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: avoid passing Athens; and presuming his force to be small, we may
expect him to be annihilated by our cavalry and frontier police.[61] I
say, presuming his force to be small, since to march with anything
like a large force, and thereby leave his own territory denuded of
troops, would be a startling achievement. Why, the fortified city of
Athens will be much closer the states of the attacking parties than
they themselves will be by the time they have got to the mines. But,
for the sake of argument, let us suppose an enemy to have arrived in
the neighbourhood of Laurium; how is he going to stop there without
provisions? To go out in search of supplies with a detachment of his
force would imply risk, both for the foraging party and for those who
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