# Air

    This entry is on the element. For the visual novel, see Air (visual novel).
Air is one of the four classical elements in ancient Greek philosophy and science, and is often seen as a universal power or pure substance.

## Quotes

* AIR, n. A nutritious substance supplied by a bountiful Providence for the fattening of the poor.
** Ambrose Bierce, The Cynic's Dictionary (1906); republished as The Devil's Dictionary (1911).
* Air, air, fresh life-blood, thin and searching air, The clear, dear breath of God that loveth us.
** Robert Browning,"Pauline: A Fragment of a Confession" (1833), lines 788–9.
* My highway is unfeatured air, My consorts are the sleepless stars, And men my giant arms upbear— My arms unstained and free from scars.
** William Ellery Channing, Hymn of the Earth.
* If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.
** John F. Kennedy, American University speech, (10 June 1963).
* According to the data presented in the paper, about three-eighths of the Chinese population breathe air that would be rated “unhealthy” by United States standards. The most dangerous of the pollutants studied were fine airborne particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter, which can find their way deep into human lungs, be absorbed into the bloodstream and cause a host of health problems, including asthma, strokes, lung cancer and heart attacks.
** Dan Levin, “Study Links Polluted Air in China to 1.6 Million Deaths a Year”, The New York Times, (Aug. 13, 2015).
* O, thou art fairer than the evening air Clad in the beauty of a thousand stars.
** Christopher Marlowe, Faustus.
* Like the fire that needs the air, I won't burn unless you're there.
** Maze and Frankie Beverly, "I Need You" (1978), Golden Time of Day
* Let the air strike our tune, Whilst we show reverence to yond peeping moon.
** Thomas Middleton, The Witch (1616), act v, scene 2.
* The air in music the wing forsakes.
** John Muir, letter to Jeanne C. Carr, Yosemite (1874).
* Another glorious day, the air as delicious to the lungs as nectar to the tongue.
** John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra (1911).
* “The risks from air pollution are now far greater than previously thought or understood, particularly for heart disease and strokes,” says Dr Maria Neira, Director of WHO’s Department for Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health. “Few risks have a greater impact on global health today than air pollution; the evidence signals the need for concerted action to clean up the air we all breathe.”
** Maria Neira as qtd. in “7 Million Premature Deaths Annually Linked to Air Pollution”, World Health Organization, Geneva, (25 March 2014).
* So it is with air: there is the brightest variety which we call aether, the muddiest which we call mist and darkness, and other kinds for which we have no name...
** Plato, Timaeus, ch. 27, p. 83.
* Take a straw and throw it up into the air, —you may see by that which way the wind is.
** John Selden, Table Talk, "Libels".
* Each individuals needs 12 cubic feet of air everyday to survive.
** National geographic - HD-square
* Hamlet: The air bites shrewdly; it is very cold. Horatio: It is a nipping and an eager air.
** William Shakespeare, Hamlet, act i, scene 4.
* When I was born I drew in the common air, and fell upon the earth, which is of like nature, and the first voice which I uttered was crying, as all others do.
** Wisdom of Solomon, vii. 3.
* Darius was clearly of the opinion That the air is also man’s dominion, And that, with paddle or fin or pinion, We soon or late Shall navigate The azure, as now we sail the sea.
** John Townsend Trowbridge, Darius Green and his Flying-Machine.
* Air pollution is a problem for much of the developing world and is believed to kill more people worldwide than AIDS, malaria, breast cancer, or tuberculosis. Airborne particulate matter (PM) is especially detrimental to health, and has previously been estimated to cause between 3 and 7 million deaths every year, primarily by creating or worsening cardiorespiratory disease. Particulate sources include electric power plants, industrial facilities, automobiles, biomass burning, and fossil fuels used in homes and factories for heating. In China, air pollution was previously estimated to contribute to 1.2 to 2 million deaths annually.
** World Health Organization, “7 Million Premature Deaths Annually Linked to Air Pollution”, Geneva, (25 March 2014).
* His love was like the liberal air,— Embracing all, to cheer and bless; And every grief that mortals share Found pity in his tenderness.
** William Winter, I. H. Bromley.
* And 't is my faith, that every flower Enjoys the air it breathes.
** William Wordsworth, Lines written in Early Spring.

## See also

* Earth
* Water
* Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air by Joseph Priestley
* Fire

## External links

* Indoor air systems "absolutely key" in curbing spread of viruses (60 Minutes)