Joseph Campbell, A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living

"In marriage you are not sacrificing yourself to the other person. You are sacrificing yourself to the relationship."

"Life will always be sorrowful. We can't change it, but we can change our attitude toward it."

"One great thing about growing old is that nothing is going to lead to anything. Everything is of the moment."

"Awe is what moves us forward."

"In marriage you are not sacrificing yourself to the other person. You are sacrificing yourself to the relationship. You become mature when you become the authority of your own life. Life will always be sorrowful. We can't change it, but we can change our attitude toward it. Awe is what moves us forward."

"Every moment is utterly unique and will not be continued in eternity. This fact gives life its poignancy and should concentrate your attention on what you are experiencing now."

"The only way you can talk about this great tide in which you’re a participant is as Schopenhauer did: the universe is a dream dreamed by a single dreamer where all the dream characters dream too."

"We must be willing to get rid ofthe life we’ve planned, so as to havethe life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shedbefore the new one can come. If we fix on the old, we get stuck. When we hang onto any form,we are in danger of putrefaction. Hell is life drying up."

"Nietzsche was the one who did the job for me. At a certain moment in his life,the idea came to him of what he called 'the love of your fate.' Whatever your fate is, whatever the hell happens, you say, 'This is what I need.' It may look like a wreck, but go at it as though it were an opportunity, a challenge. If you bring love to that moment--not discouragement--you will find the strength is there. Any disaster you can survive is an improvement in your character, your stature, and your life. What a privilege! This is when the spontaneity of your own nature will have a chance to flow. Then, when looking back at your life, you will see that the moments which seemed to be great failures followed by wreckage were the incidents that shaped the life you have now. You’ll see that this is really true. Nothing can happen to you that is not positive. Even though it looks and feels at the moment like a negative crisis, it is not. The crisis throws you back, and when you are required to exhibit strength, it comes."

"Writer’s block results from too much head. Cut off your head. Pegasus, poetry, was born of Medusa when her head was cut off. You have to be reckless when writing. Be as crazy as your conscience allows."

"You become mature when you become the authority of your own life."

"The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature."