| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin: Keimer had got a better house, a shop well supply'd with stationery,
plenty of new types, a number of hands, tho' none good, and seem'd
to have a great deal of business.
Mr. Denham took a store in Water-street, where we open'd our goods;
I attended the business diligently, studied accounts, and grew,
in a little time, expert at selling. We lodg'd and, boarded together;
he counsell'd me as a father, having a sincere regard for me.
I respected and lov'd him, and we might have gone on together
very happy; but, in the beginning of February, 1726-7, when I
had just pass'd my twenty-first year, we both were taken ill.
My distemper was a pleurisy, which very nearly carried me off.
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Democracy In America, Volume 2 by Alexis de Toqueville: subject which engages them, and they expound them in the
vernacular tongue. Scientific pursuits then follow a freer and a
safer course, but a less lofty one.
The mind may, as it appears to me, divide science into three
parts. The first comprises the most theoretical principles, and
those more abstract notions whose application is either unknown
or very remote. The second is composed of those general truths
which still belong to pure theory, but lead, nevertheless, by a
straight and short road to practical results. Methods of
application and means of execution make up the third. Each of
these different portions of science may be separately cultivated,
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Alexander's Bridge by Willa Cather: that led nowhere; hurrying to catch trains
that he might just as well miss; getting up in
the morning with a great bustle and splashing
of water, to begin a day that had no purpose
and no meaning; dining late to shorten the
night, sleeping late to shorten the day.
And for what? For a mere folly, a masquerade,
a little thing that he could not let go.
AND HE COULD EVEN LET IT GO, he told himself.
But he had promised to be in London at mid-
summer, and he knew that he would go. . . .
Alexander's Bridge |
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 The Happy Prince and Other Tales by Oscar Wilde: "BAD Rocket? BAD Rocket?" he said, as he whirled through the air;
"impossible! GRAND Rocket, that is what the man said. BAD and
GRAND sound very much the same, indeed they often are the same";
and he fell into the mud.
"It is not comfortable here," he remarked, "but no doubt it is some
fashionable watering-place, and they have sent me away to recruit
my health. My nerves are certainly very much shattered, and I
require rest."
Then a little Frog, with bright jewelled eyes, and a green mottled
coat, swam up to him.
"A new arrival, I see!" said the Frog. "Well, after all there is
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