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
Man actually needs the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Striving for meaningful goals is essential for personal development and fulfillment.
Joseph Campbell emphasizes that human beings derive purpose and meaning from their efforts and aspirations. The act of striving and overcoming challenges in pursuit of a worthy goal enhances our sense of self-worth and contributes to our overall personal growth.
Themes
StrivingGoalsPersonal GrowthMeaningChallenge
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about pursuing dreams and overcoming obstacles.
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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Most people talk; we do things. They plan; we achieve. They hesitate; we move ahead. We are living proof that when human beings have the courage and commitment to transform a dream into reality, there is nothing that can stop them.
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You don't need to have a 100-person company to develop that idea.
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Heart in champions has to do with the depth of our motivation and how well your mind and body react to pressure - that is, being able to do what you do best under maximum pain and stress.
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Let us praise even the slightest improvement. That inspires the other person to keep on improving.
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Fear of failure must never be a reason not to try something.
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If we overcome the pull and "get up and get at it," we will have won a victory. We have kept our own resolve. We can then move to other things, for by small means great things are accomplished. Thus, even this one small step is also in another sense a giant leap.
Stephen CoveyRead