What gods are there, what gods have there ever been, that were not from man's imagination?
Joseph CampbellA 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.
Joseph CampbellMythology tells us that where you stumble, there your treasure is ... The world is a match for us, and weโre a match for the world. And where it seems most challenging lies the greatest invitation to find deeper and greater power in ourselves.
Joseph CampbellThey 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 CampbellThe importance of the End of time is as ... a psychological event ... When you have seen the radiance of eternity through all the forms of time ... and it is the function of art to make that visible to you ... then you have really have ended life in the world as it is lived by those who only think only in the historical, concretizing terms. This is the function of mythology.
Joseph Campbell