| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Sophist by Plato: will be another and another line of defence without end.
STRANGER: Any one, Theaetetus, who is able to advance even a little ought
to be of good cheer, for what would he who is dispirited at a little
progress do, if he were making none at all, or even undergoing a repulse?
Such a faint heart, as the proverb says, will never take a city: but now
that we have succeeded thus far, the citadel is ours, and what remains is
easier.
THEAETETUS: Very true.
STRANGER: Then, as I was saying, let us first of all obtain a conception
of language and opinion, in order that we may have clearer grounds for
determining, whether not-being has any concern with them, or whether they
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: boat, which turned out into the river and, swinging round, forged
steadily across in my direction.
As they advanced I moved my boat farther and farther in
beneath the overhanging wall, but at last it became evident that
their craft was holding the same course. The five paddlers sent
the larger boat ahead at a speed that taxed my energies to equal.
Every instant I expected to feel my prow crash against solid rock.
The light from the river was no longer visible, but ahead I
saw the faint tinge of a distant radiance, and still the water
The Warlord of Mars |
