Favorite Joseph Campbell Quotations

Are you looking for a quotation that you can't quite place? Trying to track down a hard-to-find publication? Here, folks can help you find the answers, or discuss ways for you to discover them for yourself.

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CarmelaBear
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Post by CarmelaBear »

I'm alone with my trusty computer, here at my favorite forum, and recall a Campbell quote from POM, on the hero's adventure:
…where we had thought to be alone, we will be with all the world.
~
Once in a while a door opens, and let's in the future. --- Graham Greene

JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

CarmelaBear wrote:I'm alone with my trusty computer, here at my favorite forum, and recall a Campbell quote from POM, on the hero's adventure:
…where we had thought to be alone, we will be with all the world.
~
Hey Carmela. I saw your post just now and thought I would share something you might find interesting in case you already didn't know about it. At the bottom of the forums index page there is a running live tab of how many people are online visiting on the forums at any given moment. For instance just now as I'm writing this there are 31 people reading various topics here. ( Pretty cool I think to know that you are sharing this space with other people across the planet seeking what great insights and ideas this place has to offer. )

Have a pleasant evening my friend.

Cheers
:)
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

A nice one from the homepage. 8)
Through a dialogue conducted with these inward forces through our dreams and through a study of myths, we can learn to know and come to terms with the greater horizon of our own deeper and wiser, inward self.

Joseph Campbell
Myths to LIve By
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

CarmelaBear
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Post by CarmelaBear »

That quote, James, is particularly relevant as we address the whole experience of being part of a seriously complicated world.

~

Self-conscious introverts like me can easily delve into the deep and inward self, but how, pray tell, do the extroverts among us manage such intense reflection?

~
Once in a while a door opens, and let's in the future. --- Graham Greene

JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

Through a dialogue conducted with these inward forces through our dreams and through a study of myths, we can learn to know and come to terms with the greater horizon of our own deeper and wiser, inward self.

Joseph Campbell
Myths to LIve By
CarmelaBear wrote:That quote, James, is particularly relevant as we address the whole experience of being part of a seriously complicated world.

~

Self-conscious introverts like me can easily delve into the deep and inward self, but how, pray tell, do the extroverts among us manage such intense reflection?

~
Carmela if I might suggest IMHO this is one of the reasons Joseph Campbell drew so much from Carl Jung's work since it deals specifically with the internal forces within the human mind. That's not to say he was totally committed to everything Jung said and nothing else. His work of course covers a huge variety of subject matter and he certainly was a scholar of the highest order. There was a comment I came across he made on a Michael Toms interview once where he addressed any misconceptions concerning Jung and his work where he set the record straight.

( Taken from Michael Toms recordings of interviews and the book: " An Open Life ". ):



Joseph Campbell:
" You know for some people " Jungian " is a nasty word. and it has been flung at me by certain reviewers as though to say, " Don't bother with Joe Campbell; he is a Jungian. " I'm not a Jungian! As far as interpreting myths, Jung gives me the best clues I've got. But I'm much more interested in diffusion and relationships historically than Jung was, so that the Jungians think of me as a kind of questionable person. I don't use those formula words very often in my interpretation of myths, but Jung gives me the background from which to let the myth talk to me.

If I do have a guru of that sort, it would be Zimmer - the one who really gave me the courage to interpret the myths out of what I knew of their common symbols. There's always a risk there, but it's the risk of your own personal adventure instead of just gluing yourself to what someone else has found. "
Chapters 4,5,& 6 in " Pathways to Bliss " covers some of Jung's themes as far as the " Monomyth " and the life process is concerned which constantly has been of great help to me if your interested in pursuing this further.

Cheers :)
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

CarmelaBear
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Post by CarmelaBear »

From the news feed on Facebook:

If myth is translated into literal fact, then myth is a lie. But if you read it as a reflection of the world inside you, then it's true. Myth is the penultimate truth.

Joseph Campbell, from a 1986 Houston Chronicle interview by Leslie Sowers.
Once in a while a door opens, and let's in the future. --- Graham Greene

JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

CarmelaBear wrote:From the news feed on Facebook:

If myth is translated into literal fact, then myth is a lie. But if you read it as a reflection of the world inside you, then it's true. Myth is the penultimate truth.

Joseph Campbell, from a 1986 Houston Chronicle interview by Leslie Sowers.
I meant to get back to this Carmela; but got distracted by several other tasks. That quote I think perfectly frames much of the problem going on across the planet in the way people interpret religion; ( they see their mythology as factual instead of being applied metaphorically ). Joseph mentioned this realization quite often; and it's relevance could not be more evident when witnessing many of the religious - sectarian conflicts playing out across the globe on the evening news. :idea:
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

romansh
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Post by romansh »

  1. Campbell recalled that as he emerged from a banquet he was approached by a member of a religious cult who asked, "Do you believe in God?" Campbell replied, "Young man, I don't think you know the implications of that question. I'm acquainted with hundreds of gods. (But) I think I know the one you're talking about. I believe in Him, too."

    The cultist then asked, "Sir, are you an atheist?" and Campbell replied, "I don't think you can call a person an atheist who believes in as many gods as I do
Does anybody know the origin of this anecdote?
"That's right!" shouted Vroomfondel, "we demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!"

CarmelaBear
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Post by CarmelaBear »

Welcome back, Rom!

I'm afraid the quote is not one that rings bells for me. Sorry.

:?:
Once in a while a door opens, and let's in the future. --- Graham Greene

romansh
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Post by romansh »

CarmelaBear wrote:Welcome back, Rom!
Never went away Carmela
"That's right!" shouted Vroomfondel, "we demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!"

cristinaso
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Life Will Out

Post by cristinaso »

Hi, I've been looking for the meaning of the phrase "Life will out" and I found that it may be attributed to this:

Your existence is an expression of a cosmic law that says “life will out”- Joseph Campbell

Does anyone know where this phrase come? and what does he mean with that cosmic law of "life will out"?

Thank you in advance :D

JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

Greetings Cristinaso; welcome to the forums. It's been a bit slow around here lately due to some technical difficulties that hopefully will be resolved before too long. If you find posting somewhat challenging that is the reason; ( seems to be a code issue ).

At any rate the quote you mention I am not familiar with but the sense of it I get refers possibly to the " meaning of existence ". Although the term: " life will out " is not directly referenced here; this is another quote of Joseph Campbell's I came across that hopefully will be of some help. Perhaps another member of our community might be able to offer some further assistance.
"A mythological order is a system of images that gives consciousness a sense of meaning in existence, which, my dear friend, has no meaning––it simply is. But the mind goes asking for meanings; it can't play unless it knows (or makes up) the rules.

"Mythologies present games to play: how to make believe you're doing thus and so. Ultimately, through the game, you experience that positive thing which is the experience of being-in-being, of living meaningfully. That's the first function of a mythology, to evoke in the individual a sense of grateful affirmative awe before the monstrous mystery that is existence."

Joseph Campbell, Pathways to Bliss, p. 6
Again welcome here. :)
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

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Post by Myrtle »

romansh wrote:
  1. Campbell recalled that as he emerged from a banquet he was approached by a member of a religious cult who asked, "Do you believe in God?" Campbell replied, "Young man, I don't think you know the implications of that question. I'm acquainted with hundreds of gods. (But) I think I know the one you're talking about. I believe in Him, too."

    The cultist then asked, "Sir, are you an atheist?" and Campbell replied, "I don't think you can call a person an atheist who believes in as many gods as I do
Does anybody know the origin of this anecdote?
Hi Romansh,

This story is in an LA Times article (on page 2)

http://articles.latimes.com/1987-05-27/ ... h-campbell

Hope this helps.
Myrtle

JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

Myrtle wrote:
romansh wrote:
  1. Campbell recalled that as he emerged from a banquet he was approached by a member of a religious cult who asked, "Do you believe in God?" Campbell replied, "Young man, I don't think you know the implications of that question. I'm acquainted with hundreds of gods. (But) I think I know the one you're talking about. I believe in Him, too."

    The cultist then asked, "Sir, are you an atheist?" and Campbell replied, "I don't think you can call a person an atheist who believes in as many gods as I do
Does anybody know the origin of this anecdote?
Hi Romansh,

This story is in an LA Times article (on page 2)


http://articles.latimes.com/1987-05-27/ ... h-campbell

Hope this helps.
Myrtle

That's a really great article Myrtle. I particularly liked what he wrote concerning Joseph Campbell's definition of Mythology.

Garry Abrams:
Mythology, by Campbell's definition, is a collection of metaphors, or "an organization of symbolic images and narratives metaphorical of the possibility of human experience and fulfillment in a given culture at a given time."
8)
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

Off the homepage:
So then, what are we really questing for? And here is the answer: It is the fullfillment of what is potential in ourselves, our true selves. It is not an ego trip. You are not your ego. You experience your ego. You are not your thoughts. You experience your thoughts. You are not your feelings. You experience your feelings. And you are not your body. You behold your body. This recognition awakens a heritage within us that exists before all these mythologies, religions and belief systems came into being and into our traditions. It's an awakening of our own pre-ego, pre-Hindu, pre-Jewish, pre-Buddhist, pre-Muslim, pre-Christian hearts.


Joseph Campbell
The Eastern Way: Oriental Mythology (Joseph Campbell Audio Collection I.3.1)
8)
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

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