“Earth and fire and water and airWe solemnly promise, we solemnly swearNot a word, not a hint, not a sound to declareEarth and fire and water and air!”

“Money is like fire, an element as little troubled by moralising as earth, air, and water. Men can employ it as a tool or they can dance around it as if it were the incarnation of a god . . . It acquires its meaning from the uses to which it is put.”

“We do not want merely to see beauty... we want something else which can hardly be put into words- to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it. That is why we have peopled air and earth and water with gods and goddesses, and nymphs and elves.”

“It's expression was solemn, its complexion muddy.”

“Even a really bad creator would at least have started with Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Surprise.”

“Words were her plague and words were her redemption.”

“...if you do not even understand what words say, how can you expect to pass judgement on what words conceal?”