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
Heroism is a matter of integrity--beco ming more and more at each step ourselves.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Heroism stems from being true to oneself and growing in authenticity.
In this quote, Joseph Campbell highlights that heroism is not merely about grand actions or bravery in the conventional sense; rather, it is defined by one's integrity and commitment to becoming one's true self. Each step towards authenticity enhances one’s heroic qualities, suggesting that true courage lies in the journey of self-discovery and personal growth.
Themes
HeroismIntegrityAuthenticityCourageSelf-Discovery
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech discussing the importance of personal growth.
More from Joseph Campbell
All quotes →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.
Joseph CampbellRead
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.
Joseph CampbellRead
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.
Joseph CampbellRead
The demon that you can swallow gives you it’s power, and the greater life’s pain, the greater life’s reply.
Joseph CampbellRead
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?
Joseph CampbellRead
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Every Fourth of July, our Declaration of Independence is produced, with a sublime indignation, to set forth the tyranny of the mother country and to challenge the admiration of the world. But what a pitiful detail of grievances does this document present in comparison with the wrongs which our slaves endure!
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I was amazed that what I needed to survive could be carried on my back. And, most surprising of all, that I could carry it.
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My old man says when it's time to be counted, the important thing is to be man enough to stand up.
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