--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you are to advance, all fixed ideas…" description: "\"If you are to advance, all fixed ideas must go.\" — Joseph Campbell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08d/joseph-campbell-300_advance_if-you-are-to-advance-all-fixed-ideas-mu_324301.png" --- # If you are to advance, all fixed ideas must go. ![“If you are to advance, all fixed ideas must go.” quote by Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08d/joseph-campbell-300_advance_if-you-are-to-advance-all-fixed-ideas-mu_324301.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08d/joseph-campbell-300_advance_if-you-are-to-advance-all-fixed-ideas-mu_324301.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08d/joseph-campbell-300_advance_if-you-are-to-advance-all-fixed-ideas-mu_324301.png) > “If you are to advance, all fixed ideas must go.” [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. Advancement requires abandoning rigid, outdated beliefs to embrace new possibilities. **In simple terms:** Let go of fixed ideas to grow. Key Takeaway Release old beliefs to move forward. Themes growth flexibility learning innovation Mood thought‑provoking encouraging Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career change - education - personal growth - problem solving Key Concepts Cognitive flexibility paradigm shift creativity Questions to Reflect On - Which fixed ideas limit you? - How can you test new concepts safely? A Different Perspective Some ideas may have lasting value; discarding them can be risky. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Advance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/advance/) [Advance Fixed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/advance-fixed-3049433/) [Fixed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fixed/) [Fixed Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fixed-ideas-267254/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [“To be a Sufi is to detach from fixed ideas and from preconceptions; and not to try to avoid what is your lot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/to-be-a-sufi-is-to-detach-from-fixed-ideas-and-from-preconceptions/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [Crimes spring from fixed ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/crimes-spring-from-fixed-ideas/) [Max Stirner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/) > [We, as a society, have become very fixed in our ideas of how things were, how they are, and how they should be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-victor-dixon/we-as-a-society-have-become-very-fixed-in-our-ideas-of-how-things/) [Brandon Victor Dixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-victor-dixon/) > [I had an immense advantage over many others dealing with the problem in as much as I had no fixed ideas derived from long-established…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-bessemer/i-had-an-immense-advantage-over-many-others-dealing-with-the-problem/) [Henry Bessemer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-bessemer/) > [You can get fixed ideas, and it can get restrictive. So, I try to put myself in a precarious position.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/merce-cunningham/you-can-get-fixed-ideas-and-it-can-get-restrictive-so-i-try-to-put/) [Merce Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/merce-cunningham/) > [Mortal danger is an effective antidote for fixed ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-rommel/mortal-danger-is-an-effective-antidote-for-fixed-ideas/) [Erwin Rommel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-rommel/) > [Others have said it before me. If you don't have a seat at the table, you're probably on the menu. And so it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-warren/others-have-said-it-before-me-if-you-don-t-have-a-seat-at-the-table/) [Elizabeth Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-warren/) > [My priority in life is my whanau, followed by my work as an artist, which has blessed me with the ability to provide opportunities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cliff-curtis/my-priority-in-life-is-my-whanau-followed-by-my-work-as-an-artist/) [Cliff Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cliff-curtis/) > [Error is discipline through which we advance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/error-is-discipline-through-which-we-advance/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [I think it's important to earn your fan base and not just try to immediately advance to the top. If you ride to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-mraz/i-think-it-s-important-to-earn-your-fan-base-and-not-just-try-to/) [Jason Mraz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-mraz/) > [Some companies out there quote a start of production that is substantially in advance of when customers get their cars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/some-companies-out-there-quote-a-start-of-production-that-is/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) > [The advance of science spares us from irrational dread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/the-advance-of-science-spares-us-from-irrational-dread/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) > [It's more common than not that bipolar illness will start in the teens. One of the reasons I spend a lot of time on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/it-s-more-common-than-not-that-bipolar-illness-will-start-in-the/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [I don't think we should tell them what we're going to do in advance. Let them think. Worry. Wonder. Uncertainty is the most chilling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vernon-a-walters/i-don-t-think-we-should-tell-them-what-we-re-going-to-do-in-advance/) [Vernon A. Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vernon-a-walters/) > [What I have in advance are people I want to write about and a problem or problems that I see those people encountering and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/what-i-have-in-advance-are-people-i-want-to-write-about-and-a-problem/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) ## 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 Advance quotes > [I don't think we should tell them what we're going to do in advance. Let them think. Worry. Wonder. Uncertainty is the most chilling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vernon-a-walters/i-don-t-think-we-should-tell-them-what-we-re-going-to-do-in-advance/) [Vernon A. Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vernon-a-walters/) > [It's more common than not that bipolar illness will start in the teens. One of the reasons I spend a lot of time on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/it-s-more-common-than-not-that-bipolar-illness-will-start-in-the/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [The advance of science spares us from irrational dread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/the-advance-of-science-spares-us-from-irrational-dread/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) > [Some companies out there quote a start of production that is substantially in advance of when customers get their cars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/some-companies-out-there-quote-a-start-of-production-that-is/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) > [My priority in life is my whanau, followed by my work as an artist, which has blessed me with the ability to provide opportunities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cliff-curtis/my-priority-in-life-is-my-whanau-followed-by-my-work-as-an-artist/) [Cliff Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cliff-curtis/) > [Others have said it before me. If you don't have a seat at the table, you're probably on the menu. And so it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-warren/others-have-said-it-before-me-if-you-don-t-have-a-seat-at-the-table/) [Elizabeth Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-warren/) > [What I have in advance are people I want to write about and a problem or problems that I see those people encountering and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/what-i-have-in-advance-are-people-i-want-to-write-about-and-a-problem/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [Error is discipline through which we advance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/error-is-discipline-through-which-we-advance/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [I think it's important to earn your fan base and not just try to immediately advance to the top. If you ride to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-mraz/i-think-it-s-important-to-earn-your-fan-base-and-not-just-try-to/) [Jason Mraz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-mraz/) > [The Chinese public is deeply nationalist, which matters to China's unelected political leadership as much as U.S. nationalism does to American politicians. As China…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-feldman/the-chinese-public-is-deeply-nationalist-which-matters-to-china-s/) [Noah Feldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-feldman/) > [Some might complain that nuclear disarmament is little more than a dream. But that ignores the very tangible benefits disarmament would bring for all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ban-ki-moon/some-might-complain-that-nuclear-disarmament-is-little-more-than-a/) [Ban Ki-moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ban-ki-moon/) > [Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/let-our-advance-worrying-become-advance-thinking-and-planning/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Let us not bankrupt our todays by paying interest on the regrets of yesterday and by borrowing in advance the troubles of tomorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-w-sockman-2/let-us-not-bankrupt-our-todays-by-paying-interest-on-the-regrets-of/) [Ralph W. Sockman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-w-sockman-2/) > [In times of failing health, don't hopelessly pray for the intervention of a mythical god; wish hopefully for an advance in medical science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-fowler/in-times-of-failing-health-don-t-hopelessly-pray-for-the-intervention/) [Steve Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-fowler/) > [Clearly, unless thinking beings inevitably wipe themselves out soon after developing technology, extraterrestrial intelligence could often be millions or billions of years in advance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/clearly-unless-thinking-beings-inevitably-wipe-themselves-out-soon/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) [Browse all 263 Advance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/advance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you are to advance, all fixed ideas must go.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joseph Campbell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/if-you-are-to-advance-all-fixed-ideas-must-go/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Advance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/if-you-are-to-advance-all-fixed-ideas-must-go/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08d/joseph-campbell-300_advance_if-you-are-to-advance-all-fixed-ideas-mu_324301.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08d/joseph-campbell-300_advance_if-you-are-to-advance-all-fixed-ideas-mu_324301.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08d/joseph-campbell-300_advance_if-you-are-to-advance-all-fixed-ideas-mu_324301.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you are to advance, all fixed ideas must go.” — 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": "If you are to advance, all...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/if-you-are-to-advance-all-fixed-ideas-must-go/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/if-you-are-to-advance-all-fixed-ideas-must-go/#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 } } ] } ```