---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For those in whom a local mythology still…"
description: "\"For those in whom a local mythology still works, there is an experience both of accord with the social order, and of harmony with the universe. For tho..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bc/joseph-campbell-300_accord_for-those-in-whom-a-local-mythology-stil_2377889.png"
---

#  For those in whom a local mythology still works, there is…

![“For those in whom a local mythology still works, there is an experience both of accord with the social order, and of harmony with the universe. For those, however, in whom the authorized signs no longer work-or, if working, produce deviant effects-there follows inevitably a sense both of…” quote by Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bc/joseph-campbell-300_accord_for-those-in-whom-a-local-mythology-stil_2377889.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bc/joseph-campbell-300_accord_for-those-in-whom-a-local-mythology-stil_2377889.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bc/joseph-campbell-300_accord_for-those-in-whom-a-local-mythology-stil_2377889.png)

> “For those in whom a local mythology still works, there is an experience both of accord with the social order, and of harmony with the universe. For those, however, in whom the authorized signs no longer work-or, if working, produce deviant effects-there follows inevitably a sense both of dissociation from the local social nexus and of quest, within and without, for life, which the brain will take to be for 'meaning'.”

[Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

When traditional myths fail, individuals feel disconnected from society and seek personal meaning, leading to a quest for purpose.

**In simple terms:** Loss of myth creates a search for meaning.

Key Takeaway

Explore personal narratives to find purpose.

Themes

mythology meaning identity

Mood

contemplative hopeful

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- career transitions
- spiritual crises
- creative projects

Key Concepts

psychology anthropology existentialism

Questions to Reflect On

- How do modern narratives replace ancient myths?
- What personal rituals give you meaning?

A Different Perspective

May generalize diverse cultural experiences.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Accord](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accord/) [Brain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain/) [Deviants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deviants/) [Dissociation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dissociation/) [Dissociation Local](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dissociation-local-5879702/) [Effects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effects/) [Harmony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harmony/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Local Mythology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/local-mythology-5879703/) [Locals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/locals/) [Mythology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mythology/) [Mythology Works](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mythology-works-5490063/) [Nexus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nexus/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Produce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/produce/) [Quests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quests/) [Sense Dissociation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense-dissociation-5879704/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-order/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/)

## Related quotes

> [Mythology works... because Indians have been bred on myths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashwin-sanghi/mythology-works-because-indians-have-been-bred-on-myths/)

[Ashwin Sanghi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashwin-sanghi/)

> [Different is not deviant, no matter what the world may say. You have the moral obligation to love yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-m-blow/different-is-not-deviant-no-matter-what-the-world-may-say-you-have/)

[Charles M. Blow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-m-blow/)

> [Deviants are sacrificed to increase group solidarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-holzer/deviants-are-sacrificed-to-increase-group-solidarity/)

[Jenny Holzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-holzer/)

> [Prejudice validates itself as righteous abhorrence of the criminally deviant. So Christian homophobia is just a metonym of that abjection in general.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-duncan/prejudice-validates-itself-as-righteous-abhorrence-of-the-criminally/)

[Hal Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-duncan/)

> [A cardinal American virtue, 'ambition,' promotes a cardinal American vice, 'deviant behavior.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-cardinal-american-virtue-ambition-promotes-a-cardinal-american-vice/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I thin many people's deviant behavior starts with dreams because dreams are so non-linear... as if there's an assumption that everything has to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robyn-hitchcock/i-thin-many-people-s-deviant-behavior-starts-with-dreams-because/)

[Robyn Hitchcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robyn-hitchcock/)

> [These days I'm often called a Deviant Calvinist, but I don't really think my views do deviate from the Reformed tradition, though in some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-d-crisp/these-days-i-m-often-called-a-deviant-calvinist-but-i-don-t-really/)

[Oliver D. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-d-crisp/)

> [A lot of the strings that hold us like puppets are really inventions of our own minds. I'm not saying that there aren't armies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/a-lot-of-the-strings-that-hold-us-like-puppets-are-really-inventions/)

[John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/)

> [When a guy writes a scene where a woman does a deviant sex act on camera, it's objectifying. But when a woman writes it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-cummings/when-a-guy-writes-a-scene-where-a-woman-does-a-deviant-sex-act-on/)

[Whitney Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitney-cummings/)

> [Thwarted, or starved, in the important objects proper to young capacities, the boys and young men naturally find or invent deviant objects for themselves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-goodman/thwarted-or-starved-in-the-important-objects-proper-to-young/)

[Paul Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-goodman/)

> [To be a hero you have to learn to be a deviant — because you're always going against the conformity of the group.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-be-a-hero-you-have-to-learn-to-be-a-deviant-because-you-re-always/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Life is impermanent and in the face of that impermanence, cavort! Look death in the eye, tell him you’re as cute as a button,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-milford/life-is-impermanent-and-in-the-face-of-that-impermanence-cavort-look/)

[Nancy Milford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-milford/)

> [Benedict XVI kept saying that homosexuals are deviant. They're not deviant. They're deviant only if you say that anyone who is different from me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-shelby-spong/benedict-xvi-kept-saying-that-homosexuals-are-deviant-they-re-not/)

[John Shelby Spong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-shelby-spong/)

> [I'm a devoted husband. That must strike you as totally deviant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-banks/i-m-a-devoted-husband-that-must-strike-you-as-totally-deviant/)

[Iain Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-banks/)

> [The pervert." "He prefers to think of himself as sexual deviant." "Semantics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/the-pervert-he-prefers-to-think-of-himself-as-sexual-deviant-semantics/)

[Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/)

## More by Joseph Campbell

> [If a person does not listen to the demands of their own spiritual and heart life and insists on a certain program, you're going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/if-a-person-does-not-listen-to-the-demands-of-their-own-spiritual-and/)

[Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/)

> [The last act in the biography of the hero is that of the death or departure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-last-act-in-the-biography-of-the-hero-is-that-of-the-death-or/)

[Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/)

> [The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-privilege-of-a-lifetime-is-being-who-you-are/)

[Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/)

> [The eternal principle, which never was born, never will die: it is in all things: it is in you now. You are the wave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-eternal-principle-which-never-was-born-never-will-die-it-is-in/)

[Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/)

> [How do you find the divine power in yourself? The word enthusiasm means 'filled with a god,' so what makes you enthusiastic? Follow it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/how-do-you-find-the-divine-power-in-yourself-the-word-enthusiasm/)

[Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/)

> [What we're learning in our schools is not the wisdom of life. We're learning technologies, we're getting information. There's a curious reluctance on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/what-we-re-learning-in-our-schools-is-not-the-wisdom-of-life-we-re/)

[Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/)

> [ The fall \[of your soul\] from perfection into duality...was naturally followed by the discovery of the duality of good and evil...This is the Biblical… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-fall-of-your-soul-from-perfection-into-duality-was-naturally/)

[Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/)

> [So that's what destiny is: simply the fulfillment of the potentialites of the energies in your own system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/so-that-s-what-destiny-is-simply-the-fulfillment-of-the-potentialites/)

[Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/)

> [Your ego is your embodiment and your self is your potentiality and that's what you listen to when you listen for the voice of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/your-ego-is-your-embodiment-and-your-self-is-your-potentiality-and/)

[Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/)

> [When you follow your bliss a kind of track opens up, that's always been there, waiting for you. And the life that you should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/when-you-follow-your-bliss-a-kind-of-track-opens-up-that-s-always/)

[Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/)

> [The best we can do is lean towards the light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-best-we-can-do-is-lean-towards-the-light/)

[Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/)

> [I think of mythology as the homeland of the muses, the inspirers of art, the inspirers of poetry. To see life as a poem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/i-think-of-mythology-as-the-homeland-of-the-muses-the-inspirers-of/)

[Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/)

> [When you are falling --- Dive!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/when-you-are-falling-dive/)

[Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/)

> [We're all seeking...the rapture of being alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/we-re-all-seeking-the-rapture-of-being-alive/)

[Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/)

> [Both the artist and the lover know that perfection is not loveable. It is the clumsiness of a fault that makes a person lovable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/both-the-artist-and-the-lover-know-that-perfection-is-not-loveable-it/)

[Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/)

[Explore all 711 Joseph Campbell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/)

## More Accord quotes

> [To an ever greater extent out experience is governed by pictures, pictures in newspapers and magazines, on television and in the cinema. Next to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-crimp/to-an-ever-greater-extent-out-experience-is-governed-by-pictures/)

[Douglas Crimp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-crimp/)

> [Society understands the architecture of academia and knows there are relevant qualifications in different fields, and the media accepts the idea of specialisations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-griffiths/society-understands-the-architecture-of-academia-and-knows-there-are/)

[Jay Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-griffiths/)

> [Christian obligation cannot be made to accord with a law of expediency. The Christian's maxims are, Do right because you are bound to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-landey-patton/christian-obligation-cannot-be-made-to-accord-with-a-law-of/)

[Francis Landey Patton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-landey-patton/)

> [I've never had a very quiet voice. I tried in choir to make it smaller, and it just didn't work out. And I listened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-ditto/i-ve-never-had-a-very-quiet-voice-i-tried-in-choir-to-make-it-smaller/)

[Beth Ditto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-ditto/)

> [It is a very high mind to which gratitude is not a painful sensation. If you wish to please, you will find it wiser…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/it-is-a-very-high-mind-to-which-gratitude-is-not-a-painful-sensation/)

[Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/)

> [To act choicelessly is to act in accord with the situation. If someone throws a rock, you duck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rami-m-shapiro/to-act-choicelessly-is-to-act-in-accord-with-the-situation-if-someone/)

[Rami M. Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rami-m-shapiro/)

> [“I'm not here to grant you the extraordinary love you never had for yourself. I'm here, on my own accord, to love you. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/i-m-not-here-to-grant-you-the-extraordinary-love-you-never-had-for/)

[Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/)

> [It is a misfortune that necessity has induced men to accord greater license to this formidable engine, in order to obtain liberty, than can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-f-cooper/it-is-a-misfortune-that-necessity-has-induced-men-to-accord-greater/)

[James F. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-f-cooper/)

> [Life is a cutup. And to pretend that you write or paint in a timeless vacuum is just simply . . . not .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/life-is-a-cutup-and-to-pretend-that-you-write-or-paint-in-a-timeless/)

[William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/)

> [The dominant propaganda systems have appropriated the term "globalization" to refer to the specific version of international economic integration that they favor, which privileges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-dominant-propaganda-systems-have-appropriated-the-term/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

> [If you want to accord with the Tao, just do your job, then let go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/if-you-want-to-accord-with-the-tao-just-do-your-job-then-let-go/)

[Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/)

> [The fineness which a hymn or psalm affords / If when the soul unto the lines accords.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/the-fineness-which-a-hymn-or-psalm-affords-if-when-the-soul-unto-the/)

[George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/)

> [A covenant is an agreement between God and man, an accord whose terms are set by God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-todd-christofferson/a-covenant-is-an-agreement-between-god-and-man-an-accord-whose-terms/)

[D. Todd Christofferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-todd-christofferson/)

> [All day I think about it, then at night I say it. Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/all-day-i-think-about-it-then-at-night-i-say-it-where-did-i-come-from/)

[Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/)

> [All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/all-art-is-at-once-surface-and-symbol-those-who-go-beneath-the/)

[Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/)

[Browse all 406 Accord quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accord/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "For those in whom a local mythology still works, there is an experience both of accord with the social order, and of harmony with the universe. For those, however, in whom the authorized signs no longer work-or, if working, produce deviant effects-there follows inevitably a sense both of dissociation from the local social nexus and of quest, within and without, for life, which the brain will take to be for 'meaning'.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Joseph Campbell"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/for-those-in-whom-a-local-mythology-still-works-there-is-an/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Accord"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/for-those-in-whom-a-local-mythology-still-works-there-is-an/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bc/joseph-campbell-300_accord_for-those-in-whom-a-local-mythology-stil_2377889.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bc/joseph-campbell-300_accord_for-those-in-whom-a-local-mythology-stil_2377889.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bc/joseph-campbell-300_accord_for-those-in-whom-a-local-mythology-stil_2377889.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“For those in whom a local mythology still works, there is an experience both of accord with the social…” — Joseph Campbell",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Joseph Campbell",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "For those in whom a local...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/for-those-in-whom-a-local-mythology-still-works-there-is-an/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/for-those-in-whom-a-local-mythology-still-works-there-is-an/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
