Joseph Campbell Quotes For Inspiration

When Joseph Campbell died in 1987 at the age of 83, he left behind a multitude of books, manuscripts, and lectures created over 50+ years of writing. Joseph Campbell influenced my artwork and life direction. I quit my accounting job in 2019 because I was implementing his most famous quote on how to live a meaningful life: “follow your bliss.” His work spans mythology, religion, and storytelling and he asks us to think about our place in the world and the universe. Enjoy the collection of quotes below which I have paired with my cyanotype art.

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Power of Myth Quotes

Jul 6, 2020(edit)

The End of the Hero’s Journey

Ironically, to Campbell the end of the hero’s journey is not aggrandizement of the hero. ‘It is,’ he said in one of his lectures, ‘not to identify oneself with any of the figures or powers experienced…The ultimate aim of the quest must be neither release nor ecstasy for oneself, but the wisdom and the power to serve others.’ One of the distinctions between the celebrity and the hero, he said, is that one lives only for self while the other acts to redeem society. (Power of Myth, location 107 kindle)

Origin of Joseph Campbell Bliss Quote

Jun 8, 2020(edit)

Now, I came to this idea of bliss because in Sanskrit, which is the great spiritual language of the world, there are three terms that represent the brink, the jumping-off place to the ocean of transcendence: sat-chit-ananda. The word “Sat” means being. “Chit” means consciousness. “Ananda” means bliss or rapture. I thought, “I don’t know whether my consciousness is proper consciousness or not; I don’t know whether what I know of my being is my proper being or not; but I do know where my rapture is. So let me hang on to rapture, and that will bring me both my consciousness and my being.” I think it worked.
Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth pp. 113, 120

How to Follow your Bliss

Jun 5, 2020(edit)

When are you most alive? That is the one deep question to ask yourself before the pandemic ends. This week, I want to answer that question by exploring a Joseph Campbell quote:

“Follow Your Bliss.”… View More

Influence of a Vital person Vitalizes [the World]

Jun 1, 2020(edit)

The influence of a vital person vitalizes, there’s no doubt about it. The world without spirit is a wasteland. People have the notion of saving the world by shifting things around, changing the rules, and who’s on top, and so forth. No, no! Any world is a valid world if it’s alive. The thing to do is to bring life to it, and the only way to do that is to find in your own case where the life is and become alive yourself.
Joseph Campbell, Power of Myth with Bill Moyers (book) P. 149

Follow Your Bliss

May 25, 2020(edit)

“Follow your bliss. If you do follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while waiting for you, and the life you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in the field of your bliss, and they open the doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be. If you follow your bliss, doors will open for you that wouldn’t have opened for anyone else.” - Joseph Campbell… View More