Joseph Campbell
Joseph Campbell
Joseph John Campbellwas an American mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of the human experience. His philosophy is often summarized by his phrase: "Follow your bliss."...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAuthor
Date of Birth26 March 1904
CountryUnited States of America
believe unique giving
This, I believe, is the great Western truth: that each of us is a completely unique creature and that, if we are ever to give any gift to the world, it will have to come out of our own experience and fulfillment of our own potentialities, not someone else's.
mind spheres senses
God is an intelligible sphere-a sphere known to mind, not to the senses-whose center is everywhere and whose circumference nowhere.
old-things together-again elements
A schism in the body social, will not be resolved by any scheme of a return to the good old days (archaism), or by programs guaranteed to render an ideal projected future (futurism), or even by the most realistic, hardheaded work to weld together again the deteriorating elements. Only birth can conquer death -- the birth, not of the old thing again, but of something new.
passion men risk
Without passion, men are not willing to pay any price or bear any burden to set the captives free.
children eye students
...suddenly you hit on something that the student really responds to, you can see the eyes open and the complexion change. The life possibility has opened there. All you can say to yourself is, "I hope this child hangs on to that."
light bulbs vehicle
What am I? Am I the bulb that carries the light, or am I the light of which the bulb is a vehicle?
dragons knowing-who-you-are ego
The ultimate dragon is within you, it is your ego clamping you down.
talking misunderstood littles
Heinrich Zimmerhe had a little saying : The best things cant be told - because they are transcendent, inexpressible truths. The second best are misunderstood : myths, which are metaphoric attempts to point to the way toward the first. And the third best have to do with history, science, biography, and so on. The only kind of talking that can be understood is this last kind.
dream moving dreamer
The dreamer and his dream are the same...the powers personified in a dream are these that move the world.
inspirational god space
Is the god the source, or is the god a human manner of conceiving of the force and energy that supports the world? In our tradition God is a male. This male and female differentiation is made, however, within the field of time and space, the field of duality. If God is beyond duality, you cannot say that God is a "He." You cannot say God is a "She." You cannot say God is an "It." (18)
inspirational journey world
We're not on our journey to save the world but to save ourselves. But in doing that you save the world. The influence of a vital person vitalizes.
trying bliss stations
Where is your bliss station? You have to try to find it.
needs groups individual
We need myths that will identify the individual not with his local group but with the planet.
adventure ego world
Questing... is not an ego trip; it is an adventure to bring into fulfillment your gift to the world, which is yourself.