“A bit of adviceGiven to a young Native AmericanAt 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
Life Time Wisdom

Explore This Quote Further

Quote by Joseph Campbell: “A bit of adviceGiven to a young Native AmericanA… - Image 1

Similar quotes

“It may be a species of impudence to think that the way you understand God is the way God is. (60).”


“The image that comes to mind is a boxing ring. There are times when...you just want that bell to ring, but you're the one who's losing. The one who's winning doesn't have that feeling. Do you have the energy and strength to face life? Life can ask more of you than you are willing to give. And then you say, 'Life is not something that should have been. I'm not going to play the game. I'm going to meditate. I'm going to call "out".'There are three positions possible. One is the up-to-it, and facing the game and playing through. The second is saying, Absolutely not. I don't want to stay in this dogfight. That's the absolute out. The third position is the one that says, This is mixed of good and evil. I'm on the side of the good. I accept the world with corrections. And may [the world] be the way I like it. And it's good for me and my friends. There are only the three positions.”


“You enter the forestat the darkest point,where there is no path.Where there is a way or path,it is someone else's path.You are not on your own path.If you follow someone else's way,you are not going to realizeyour potential.”


“Follow your bliss.If you do follow your bliss,you put yourself on a kind of trackthat has been there all the while waiting for you,and the life you ought to be livingis the one you are living.When you can see that,you begin to meet peoplewho 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 openwhere 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.”


“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.”


“It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.”