Joseph Campbell

A bit of advice
Given to a young Native American
At the time of his initiation:
As you go the way of life,
You will see a great chasm. Jump.
It is not as wide as you think.
-Joseph Campbell

We're in a freefall into future. We don't know where we're going. Things are changing so fast, and always when you're going through a long tunnel, anxiety comes along. And all you have to do to transform your hell into a paradise is to turn your fall into a voluntary act. It's a very interesting shift of perspective and that's all it is... joyful participation in the sorrows and everything changes.
-Joseph Campbell, Sukhavati

Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging.
-Joseph Campbell

Furthermore, we have not even to risk the adventure alone; for the heroes of all time have gone before us, the labyrinth is fully known; we have only to follow the thread of the hero-path. And where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god; where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves; where we had thought to travel outward, we shall come to the center of our own existence; where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world.
-Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces

The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure.
-Joseph Campbell

Sit in a room and read--and read and read. And read the right books by the right people. Your mind is brought onto that level, and you have a nice, mild, slow-burning rapture all the time.
-Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

All the gods, all the heavens, all the hells, are within you.
-Joseph Campbell

Just as anyone who listens to the muse will hear, you can write out of your own intention or out of inspiration. There is such a thing. It comes up and talks. And those who have heard deeply the rhythms and hymns of the gods, can recite those hymns in such a way that the gods will be attracted.
-Joseph Campbell, The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life & Work

We're so engaged in doing things to achieve purposes of outer value that we forget the inner value, the rapture that is associated with being alive, is what it is all about.
-Joseph Campbell

A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.
-Joseph Campbell

Follow your inner heart and the world moves in and helps.
-Joseph Campbell

The way to find out about happiness is to keep your mind on those moments when you feel most happy, when you are really happy — not excited, not just thrilled, but deeply happy. This requires a little bit of self-analysis. What is it that makes you happy? Stay with it, no matter what people tell you. This is what is called following your bliss.
-Joseph Campbell