The first step to the knowledge of the wonder and mystery of life is the recognition of the monstrous nature of the earthly human realm as well as its glory, the realization that this is just how it is and that it cannot and will not be changed. Those who think they know how the universe could have been had they created it, without pain, without sorrow, without time, without death, are unfit for illumination.

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About Joseph Campbell

Joseph Campbell was a 20th-century American mythologist, writer, and lecturer. Joseph John Campbell was an American writer and the husband of Jean Erdman. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. Read more on Wikipedia →

Themes

  • Change — Embracing transformation, growth, and new beginnings
  • Death — Contemplations on mortality, loss, and the legacy we leave
  • Life — Reflections on the meaning, challenges, and beauty of life
  • Time — Reflections on the passage of time and how we spend it

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