The myth is the public dream and the dream is the private myth. Joseph Campbell More Quotes by Joseph Campbell More Quotes From Joseph Campbell A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself. Joseph Campbell veterans-day inspiring life People say that what we're all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think that's what we're really seeking. I think what we're seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonance within our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive. Joseph Campbell inspirational life reality What will they think of me? Must be put aside for bliss Joseph Campbell bliss communication thinking A hero is not a champion of things become, but of things becoming; the dragon to be slain by him is precisely the monster of the status quo. Joseph Campbell champion dragons hero Eternity is not future or past. Eternity is a dimension of now. Joseph Campbell future dimensions past One great thing about growing old is that nothing is going to lead to anything. Everything is of the moment. Joseph Campbell great-things growing moments I don’t think there is any such thing as an ordinary mortal. Everybody has his own possibility of rapture in the experience of life. All he has to do is recognize it and then cultivate it and get going with it. I always feel uncomfortable when people speak about ordinary mortals because I’ve never met an ordinary man, woman, or child. Joseph Campbell women life children Perfection isn't human. Human beings are not perfect. What evokes our love--and I mean love, not lust--is the imperfection of the human being. So, when the imperfection of the real person peaks through, say, 'This is a challenge to my compassion.' Then make a try, and something might begin to get going. Joseph Campbell real love mean You know, when real trouble comes your humanity is awakened. The fundamental human experience is that of compassion. Joseph Campbell compassion real humanity The key to the Grail is compassion, 'suffering with,' feeling another's sorrow as if it were your own. The one who finds the dynamo of compassion is the one who's found the Grail. Joseph Campbell keys compassion feelings What is the cause, though, of the growth of an acorn? The oak that is to come! What is to happen in the future is then the cause of what is occurring now; and, at the same time, what occurred in the past is also the cause of what is happening now. In addition, a great number of things round about, on every side, are causing what is happening now. Everything, all the time, is causing everything else Joseph Campbell growth numbers past In choosing your god, you choose your way of looking at the universe. There are plenty of Gods. Choose yours. Joseph Campbell you-choose plenty way They thought that it would be a disgrace to go forth as a group. Each entered the forest at a point that he himself had chosen, where it was darkest and there was no path. If there is a path it is someone else's path and you are not on the adventure. Joseph Campbell groups would-be adventure The unfolding through time of all things from one is the simple message, finally, of every one of the creation myths reproduced in the pages of these volumes-including that of our contemporary biological view, which becomes an effective mythic image the moment we recognize its own inner mystery. By the same magic, every god that is dead can be conjured again to life, as any fragment of rock from a hillside, set respectfully in a garden, will arrest the eye. Joseph Campbell garden eye simple It takes courage to do what you want. Other people have a lot of plans for you... Follow your bliss. Joseph Campbell spiritual want people There is an Indian fable of three beings who drank from a river: one was a god, and he drank ambrosia; one was a man, and he drank water; and one was a demon, and he drank filth. What you get is a function of your own consciousness. Joseph Campbell rivers water men Myths are stories for our search through the ages for truth, for meaning, for significance. We all need to tell our story and to understand our story. We all need to understand death and to cope with death, and we all need help in our passages from birth to live and then to death. We need for life to signify, to touch the eternal, to understand the mysterious, to find out who we are. Joseph Campbell age stories needs It's a shame to waste [the uniqueness that is you], by doing what someone else has done. Joseph Campbell shame waste done Out of perfection nothing can be made. Every process involves breaking something up. The earth must be broken to bring forth life. If the seed does not die there is no plant. Bread results from the death of wheat. Life lives on lives. Our own life lives on the acts of other people. If you are lifeworthy, you can take it. Joseph Campbell broken perfection people The dark night of the soul comes just before revelation. Joseph Campbell soul dark night