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
We need myths that will identify the individual not with his local group but with the planet.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Joseph Campbell emphasizes the importance of myths that foster a sense of global identity rather than local affiliation.
In this quote, Joseph Campbell highlights the need for powerful narratives or myths that unify individuals across the globe, promoting a shared identity as inhabitants of the Earth rather than being limited to local or regional identities. By fostering a broader sense of belonging to the planet, these myths can encourage people to consider their responsibilities and connections to others worldwide, ultimately leading to a more compassionate and interconnected human experience.
Themes
MythsIdentityGlobalPlanetConnection
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about climate change, one might say, 'We need myths that will identify the individual not with his local group but with the planet, to emphasize our shared responsibility to protect our world.'
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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Custom will reconcile people to any atrocity, and fashion will drive them to acquire any custom.
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