| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Maitre Cornelius by Honore de Balzac: "It is the Plessis guard on their rounds," said the sister.
"Give me the key of the apprentice's room," said Cornelius.
The old woman made a gesture as if to take the lamp.
"Do you mean to leave us alone, without light?" cried Cornelius, in a
meaning tone of voice. "At your age can't you see in the dark? It
isn't difficult to find a key."
The sister understood the meaning hidden beneath these words and left
the room. Looking at this singular creature as she walked towards the
door, Philippe Goulenoire was able to hide from Cornelius the glance
which he hastily cast about the room. It was wainscoted in oak to the
chair-strip, and the walls above were hung with yellow leather stamped
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Meno by Plato: but they are inspired and divine.
There may be some trace of irony in this curious passage, which forms the
concluding portion of the Dialogue. But Plato certainly does not mean to
intimate that the supernatural or divine is the true basis of human life.
To him knowledge, if only attainable in this world, is of all things the
most divine. Yet, like other philosophers, he is willing to admit that
'probability is the guide of life (Butler's Analogy.);' and he is at the
same time desirous of contrasting the wisdom which governs the world with a
higher wisdom. There are many instincts, judgments, and anticipations of
the human mind which cannot be reduced to rule, and of which the grounds
cannot always be given in words. A person may have some skill or latent
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