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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Nermin
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Post by Nermin »

Maybe electrons are no more depicted as tiny planets uniformly circling around the
nucleus and reality at quantum levels is often a matter of potentiality/ probability
rather than certainty but it can be said that there’s still similarity between the two
in comparison to our perceptions from our particular level of magnitude :P
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Nermin
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Post by Nermin »

’Perfection in life does not exist; and if it did, it would be –not lovable but admirable, possibly even a bore. Perfection lacks personality. (All the Buddhas, they say, are perfect, perfect and therefore alike)’
Thomas Mann, quoted in Myths to Live By
‘The alchemists imagined progressive integration through conjunctions
between pairs that were both like and unlike; a current thesis holds that
“matter and antimatter are not mirror images of each other but instead
exhibit a subtle asymmetry.” Scientists posit that without asymmetry, the
universe would not exist: Had the Bigbang spawned precisely the same
amounts of matter and antimatter, they would have annihilated each other
on contact.’
Atom and Archetype: The Pauli/Jung Letters, 1932-1958, C. A. Meier
Higgs boson is that particle responsible for asymmetry in the Universe
Particle Physicists about the 'Bodhisattva boson' :-)
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Andreas
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Post by Andreas »

I don't take a negative attitude toward what's happening with the human spirit. I take a very negative attitude with what's happening to our politicians, but that has nothing to do with the human spirit. I mean, the chaos in the world today is not a function of the illumination of humanity today; it's a function of the bungling of a bunch of self interested politicians. - Campbell
I found this on this interview.

http://www.williamjames.com/transcripts/campbell.htm

Is that accurate?
“To live is enough.” ― Shunryu Suzuki

Andreas
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Post by Andreas »

The modern student may, of course, study these symbols as he will, either as a symptom of others' ignorance, or as a sign to him of his own, either in terms of reduction of metaphysics to psychology, or vice versa. The traditional way was to meditate on the symbols in both senses. In any case, they are telling metaphors of the destiny of man, man's hope, man's faith, and man's dark mystery. (The Hero With a Thousands Faces, p.260)
“To live is enough.” ― Shunryu Suzuki

Nermin
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Post by Nermin »

The value of an effective rite is that it leaves everyone to her/his own thoughts , which dogma and definitions only confuse. Dogma and definitions rationally insisted upon are inevitably hindrances, not aids, to religious meditation, since no one’s sense of the presence of God can be anything more than a function of her/his own spiritual capacity. Having your image of God –the most intimate, hidden mystery of your life- defined for you in terms contrived by some council of bishops back, say, in the fifth century or so: what good is that?
Myths to Live By, p 97, Penguin edition
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Ercan2121
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Post by Ercan2121 »

"And meanwhile another host of scholars, pressing researches
begun last century in the field of folk psychology, has been seeking
to establish the psychological bases of language, myth, religion,
art development, and moral codes.
Most remarkable of all, however, are the revelations that have
emerged from the mental clinic. 'Hie bold and truly epoch-making
writings of the psychoanalysts are indispensable to the student
of mythology; for, whatever may be thought of the detailed and
sometimes contradictory interpretations of specific cases and
problems, Freud, Jung, and their followers have demonstrated
irrefutably that the logic, the heroes, and the deeds of myth survive
into modern times. In the absence of an effective general
mythology, each of us has his private, unrecognized, rudimentary,
yet secretly potent pantheon of dream. The latest incarnation
of Oedipus, the continued romance of Beauty and the Beast,
stand this afternoon on the corner of Forty-second Street and
fifth Avenue, waiting for the traffic light to change."
from Myth and Dream, The Hero with a Thousand faces

Nermin
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Post by Nermin »

"I dreamed," wrote a troubled woman, "that a big white horse kept following me
wherever I went. I was afraid of him, and pushed him away. I looked back to see
if he was still following me, and he appeared to have become a man. I told him to
go inside a barbershop and shave off his mane, which he did. When he came out
he looked just like a man, except that he had horse's hoofs and face, and followed
me wherever I went. He came closer to me, and I woke up.
from The Hero With A Thousand Faces
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Post by Nermin »

The dictator State has one great advantage over bourgeois reason: along with the individual it swallows up his religious forces. The State takes the place of God; that is why, seen from this angle, the socialist dictatorships are religions and State slavery is a form of worship. But the religious function cannot be dislocated and falsified in this way without giving rise to secret doubts, which are immediately repressed so as to avoid conflict with the prevail trend towards mass-mindedness. […] The policy of the State is exalted to a creed, the leader or party boss becomes a demigod beyond good and evil, and his votaries are honoured as heroes, martyrs, apostles, missionaries. There is only one truth and beside it no other. It is sacrosanct and above criticism. Anyone who thinks differently is a heretic, who, as we know from history, is threatened with all manner of unpleasant things. Only the party boss, who holds the political power in his hands, can interpret the State doctrine authentically, and he does so just as suits him.


Please, does anyone remember where Joseph Campbell quotes this passage from Jung about the monster state? Thanks in advance.
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Clemsy
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Post by Clemsy »

Nermin, This is from The Power of Myth:
Man should not be in the service of society, society should be in the service of man. When man is in the service of society, you have a monster state, and that's what is threatening the world at this minute. ...Certainly Star Wars has a valid mythological perspective. It shows the state as a machine and asks, "Is the machine going to crush humanity or serve humanity?" Humanity comes not from the machine but from the heart. What I see in Star Wars is the same problem that Faust gives us: Mephistopheles, the machine man, can provide us with all the means, and is thus likely to determine the aims of life as well. But of course the characteristic of Faust, which makes him eligible to be saved, is that he seeks aims that are not those of the machine. Now, when Luke Skywalker unmasks his father, he is taking off the machine role that the father has played. The father was the uniform. That is power, the state role.
Give me stories before I go mad! ~Andreas

Nermin
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Post by Nermin »

Thank you so much, Clemsy, these observations look really important when trying
to understand what is happening in several parts of the world.
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Post by CarmelaBear »

The wisdom of Campbell is startling. His clarity is the stuff of a great teacher.

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

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Post by ALOberhoulser »

Andreas wrote:
I don't take a negative attitude toward what's happening with the human spirit. I take a very negative attitude with what's happening to our politicians, but that has nothing to do with the human spirit. I mean, the chaos in the world today is not a function of the illumination of humanity today; it's a function of the bungling of a bunch of self interested politicians. - Campbell
I found this on this interview.

http://www.williamjames.com/transcripts/campbell.htm

Is that accurate?
Andreas has a very valid question here...anyone?

Cindy B.
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Post by Cindy B. »

ALOberhoulser wrote:
Andreas wrote:
I don't take a negative attitude toward what's happening with the human spirit. I take a very negative attitude with what's happening to our politicians, but that has nothing to do with the human spirit. I mean, the chaos in the world today is not a function of the illumination of humanity today; it's a function of the bungling of a bunch of self interested politicians. - Campbell
I found this on this interview.

http://www.williamjames.com/transcripts/campbell.htm

Is that accurate?
Andreas has a very valid question here...anyone?
I'm confused, guys, about the question of accuracy. Right there in the Mishlove interview transcript--Campbell's own words. What exactly are you wondering about?

:)
If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on someone else’s. --Jung

ALOberhoulser
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Post by ALOberhoulser »

If Campbell actually said it...

Andreas
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Post by Andreas »

Yeap, what I meant was if that interview actually happened or if it is in any way paraphrased. Anyway since none complained, I take it that it is accurate. :)
“To live is enough.” ― Shunryu Suzuki

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