"THE purest of thoughts is that which concerns the beginning of things." So Ormuzd instructed Zarathrustra. "And what was there at the beginning?" the prophet asked. "There was light and the living Word." Long later the statement was repeated in the Gospel attributed to John. Originally it occurred in the course of a conversation that the Avesta reports. In a similar manner Exodus provides a revelation which Moses received. There Jehovah said: 'ehyeh ' sher 'ehyeh. In the Avesta Ormuzd said: ahmi yad ahmi. Word for word the declarations are identical. Each means I am that I am. Edgar Evertson Saltus was an American writer known for his highly refined prose style. His works paralleled those by European decadent authors such as Huysmans and Oscar Wilde. Saltus wrote two books of philosophy, The Philosophy of Disenchantment and The Anatomy of Negation. Acclaimed by fellow writers in his day, Saltus fell into obscurity after his death. His novel The Paliser Case was adapted to film in 1920, and his novel Daughters of the Rich was filmed in 1923."