Myth Quotes - Page 20

• There is no greater power on this earth than story.” Will paced the length of the room. “People think boundaries and borders build nations. Nonsense—words do. Beliefs, declarations, constitutions—words. Stories. Myths. Lies. Promises. History.” Will grabbed the sheaf of newspaper clippings he kept in a stack on his desk. “This, and these”—he gestured to the library’s teeming shelves—“they’re a testament to the country’s rich supernatural history.

  Libba Bray

  Country, Lying, Thinking

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• I can see that the sadness has returned. And it's not a beautiful sadness- beautiful sadness is a myth. Sadness turns our features to clay, not porcelain.

  David Levithan

  Beautiful, Sadness, Clay

  David Levithan (2013). “Every Day”, p.37, Egmont UK

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• People think boundaries and borders build nations. Nonsense-words do. Beliefs, declarations, constitutions-words. Stories. Myths. Lies. Promises. History

  Libba Bray

  Lying, Thinking, People

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• myself ... is merely an instrument to connect life and a myth

  Anais Nin

  Instruments

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• What I can say is that it was clear to many of us that an indigenous African literary renaissance was overdue. A major objective was to challenge stereotypes, myths, and the image of ourselves and our continent, and to recast them through stories- prose, poetry, essays, and books for our children. That was my overall goal.

  Chinua Achebe

  Children, Book, Prose Poetry

  Chinua Achebe (2012). “There Was a Country: A Memoir”, p.44, Penguin

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• The idea that the creative endeavor and mind-altering substances are entwined is one of the great pop-intellectual myths of our time. Substance abusing writers are just substance abusers — common garden variety drunks and druggies, in other words. Any claims that the drugs and alcohol are necessary to dull a finer sensibility are just the usual self-serving bullshit. I've heard alcoholic snowplow drivers make the same claim, that they drink to still the demons.

  Stephen King

  Writing, Garden, Self

  "On Writing". Book by Stephen King, 1999.

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• The truth is more magical - in the best and most exciting sense of the word - than any myth or made-up mystery or miracle. Science has its own magic: the magic of reality.

  Richard Dawkins

  Reality, Miracle, Magic

  Richard Dawkins (2011). “The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True”, p.266, Simon and Schuster

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• Scientific theories tell us what is possible; myths tell us what is desirable. Both are needed to guide proper action.

  John Maynard Smith

  Science, Action, Guides

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• A good simulation, be it a religious myth or scientific theory, gives us a sense of mastery over experience. To represent something symbolically, as we do when we speak or write, is somehow to capture it, thus making it one's own. But with this appropriation comes the realization that we have denied the immediacy of reality and that in creating a substitute we have but spun another thread in the web of our grand illusion.

  Heinz Pagels

  Religious, Writing, Science

  1988 The Dreams of Reason.

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• History is the present. That's why every generation writes it anew. But what most people think of as history is its end product, myth.

  E. L. Doctorow

  Truth, Writing, Thinking

  "Do EL Doctorow's novels tinker too much with the truth?" by Sam Jordison, www.theguardian.com. September 22, 2015.

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• The myths connected with individual sanctuaries and ceremonies were merely part of the apparatus of the worship; they served to excite the fancy and sustain the interest of the worshipper... no one cared what he believed about its origin.

  William Robertson Smith

  Sanctuary, Fancy, Worship

  William Robertson Smith (1907). “Religion of the Semites (Ppr)”, p.11, Transaction Publishers

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• Yoga is not an ancient myth buried in oblivion. It is the most valuable inheritance of the present. It is the essential need of today and the culture of tomorrow

  Satyananda Saraswati

  Life, Yoga, Today

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• Ego and conditionings are created by mind, which is a myth.

  Nirmala Srivastava

  Love, Wisdom, Yoga

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• You must forgive everyone. Now many would say that "We cannot forgive, it's very difficult." But it's a myth whether you forgive or don't forgive. What do you do? You don't do anything. But when you don't forgive, then you are playing into wrong hands. That means you are torturing yourself, while those who have troubled you are quite happy.

  Nirmala Srivastava

  Love, Wisdom, Yoga

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• Some people are very identified, say with their country or maybe with their worshipping style , whatever it is. All these misidentifications have to be given up. It is very difficult for people because they are so conditioned and as long as you have conditioning you cannot rise above your mind, which is a myth, you cannot.

  Nirmala Srivastava

  Love, Wisdom, Country

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• The reality is that you are the spirit. The rest is a myth.

  Nirmala Srivastava

  Love, Wisdom, Yoga

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• The one man team is a complete and total myth.

  Don Shula

  Teamwork, Motivational Sports, Men

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• The foundation of morality should not be made dependent on myth nor tied to any authority lest doubt about the myth or about the legitimacy of the authority imperil the foundation of sound judgment and action.

  Albert Einstein

  God, Religious, Atheist

  Albert Einstein (2013). “Albert Einstein, The Human Side: Glimpses from His Archives”, p.95, Princeton University Press

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• And so Galahad decided that it would be a disgrace to set off on a quest with the other knights. Alone he would enter the dark forest where there was no path. This is the myth of The Hero's Journey.

  Joseph Campbell

  Hero, Dark, Journey

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• For me, myth is the 'common' language of us all.

  Janet Morris

  Communication, Common, Language

  Interview with Michael A. Ventrella, michaelaventrella.com. May 15, 2012.

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• There is a Hindu myth about the Self or God of the universe who sees life as a form of play. But since the Self is what there is and all that there is and thus has no one separate to play with, he plays the cosmic game of hide-and-seek with himself. He takes on the roles and masks of individual people such as you and I and thus becomes involved in exciting and terrifying adventures, all the time forgetting who he really is.

  Reginald Horace Blyth

  Dream, Self Esteem, True Identity

  "Games Zen Masters Play: Writings of R. H. Blyth".

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• You know what, evolution is a myth. ... Why aren't monkeys still evolving into humans?

  Christine O'Donnell

  Monkeys, Evolution, Tea Party

  "Politically Incorrect" with Bill Maher, (ABC), October 15, 1998.

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• Creationists have also changed their name ... to intelligent design theorists who study 'irreducible complexity' and the 'abrupt appearance' of life-yet more jargon for 'God did it.' ... Notice that they have no interest in replacing evolution with native American creation myths or including the Code of Hammarabi alongside the posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools.

  Michael Shermer

  Native American, School, Science

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• Originally, poetry creates the myth, while the prose-writer draws its portrait.

  Jean-Paul Sartre

  Writing, Portraits, Draws

  "What Is Literature?: And Other Essays".

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• If science fiction is the mythology of modern technology, then its myth is tragic.

  Ursula K. Le Guin

  Writing, Technology, Fiction

  Ursula K. Le Guin (1997). “Dancing at the Edge of the World: Thoughts on Words, Women, Places”, p.169, Grove Press

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