No tribal rite has yet been recorded which attempts to keep winter from descending; on the contrary: the rites all prepare the community to endure, together with the rest of nature, the season of the terrible cold.
Joseph CampbellRead
Half the people in the world think that the metaphors of their religious traditions, for example, are facts. And the other half contends that they are not facts at all. As a result we have people who consider themselves believers because they accept metaphors as facts, and we have others who classify themselves as atheists because they think religious metaphors are lies.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote illustrates the divide between those who interpret religious metaphors as literal truths and those who view them as falsehoods, highlighting differing perspectives on faith and belief.
Joseph Campbell points out a fundamental divide in human understanding of religious beliefs: one half perceives the metaphors within religious traditions as objective truths, while the other half dismisses these metaphors as mere fabrications. This conflict leads to a spectrum of belief, where some are devout followers interpreting these metaphors literally, whereas others identify as atheists, rejecting these symbols entirely. Campbell's insight reveals how deeply our interpretations and perceptions shape our beliefs and ultimately contribute to the societal rifts between believers and non-believers.
Themes
ReligionMetaphorBeliefFaithTruthAtheismPerspective
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on the intersection of religion and personal belief systems, you could reference this quote to spark discussion.
More from Joseph Campbell
All quotes →Christianity isn’t moving people’s lives today. What’s moving people’s lives is the stock market and the baseball scores. What are people excited about? It’s a totally materialistic level that has taken over the world. There isn’t even an ideal that anybody’s fighting for.
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Apocalypse does not point to a fiery Armageddon but to the fact that our ignorance and our complacency are coming to an end. The exclusivism of there being only one way in which we can be saved, the idea that there is a single religious group that is in sole possession of the truth—that is the world as we know it that must pass away. What is the kingdom? It lies in our realization of the ubiquity of the divine presence in our neighbors, in our enemies, in all of us.
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The demon that you can swallow gives you it’s power, and the greater life’s pain, the greater life’s reply.
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And if there was no Fall, what then of the need for Redemption? What god was offended and by whom? Some especially touchy cave bear whose skull had been improperly enshrined?
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There's nothing you can do that's more important than being fulfilled. You become a sign, you become a signal, transparent to transcendence; in this way, you will find, live, and become a realization of your own personal myth.
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