--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Myth must be kept alive. The people who…" description: "\"“Myth must be kept alive. The people who can keep it alive are the artists of one kind or another. The function of the artist is the mythologization of..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/412/joseph-campbell-300_art_myth-must-be-kept-alive-the-people-who-c_1590803.jpg" --- # Myth must be kept alive. The people who can keep it alive… ![“Myth must be kept alive. The people who can keep it alive are the artists of one kind or another. The function of the artist is the mythologization of the environment and the world.” quote by Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/412/joseph-campbell-300_art_myth-must-be-kept-alive-the-people-who-c_1590803.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/412/joseph-campbell-300_art_myth-must-be-kept-alive-the-people-who-c_1590803.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/412/joseph-campbell-300_art_myth-must-be-kept-alive-the-people-who-c_1590803.jpg) > ““Myth must be kept alive. The people who can keep it alive are the artists of one kind or another. The function of the artist is the mythologization of the environment and the world.”” [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. Artists preserve and reinterpret cultural myths, shaping collective understanding of the world. **In simple terms:** Artists keep myths alive. Key Takeaway Create work that reflects and reshapes myth. Themes myth culture artistic responsibility Mood inspirational thought‑provoking Type philosophical creative When to use this quote - storytelling - visual arts - music - film - cultural critique Key Concepts symbolism narrative collective memory Questions to Reflect On - What myths resonate most with you? - How can you modernize an ancient story? A Different Perspective Myths can become stagnant if not reimagined. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Artist Mythologization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist-mythologization-2111760/) [Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) [Myth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/myth/) [Myth Kept](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/myth-kept-4317752/) [Mythologization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mythologization-1208763/) [Mythologization Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mythologization-environment-6029142/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) ## Related quotes > [The function of the artist is the mythologization of the culture and the world. In the visual arts there were two men whose work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-function-of-the-artist-is-the-mythologization-of-the-culture-and/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [Myth must be kept alive. The people who can keep it alive are the artists of one kind or another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/myth-must-be-kept-alive-the-people-who-can-keep-it-alive-are-the-2/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The function of artists is "the mythologization of the world."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-function-of-artists-is-the-mythologization-of-the-world/) [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/) > [Myths are public dreams; dreams are private myths. By finding your own dream and following it through, it will lead you to the myth-world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/myths-are-public-dreams-dreams-are-private-myths-by-finding-your-own/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [If you live with the myths in your mind, you will find yourself always in mythological situations. They cover everything that can happen to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/if-you-live-with-the-myths-in-your-mind-you-will-find-yourself-always/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [What's made up in the head is the fiction. 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They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/myths-are-the-world-s-dreams-they-are-archetypal-dreams-and-deal-with/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The myth is the public dream and the dream is the private myth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-myth-is-the-public-dream-and-the-dream-is-the-private-myth/) [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/) > [In each studio there is a human being dressed in the full regalia of his myth fearing to expore a vulnerable opening, spreading not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/in-each-studio-there-is-a-human-being-dressed-in-the-full-regalia-of/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [“Believe reality is what you were taught was myth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-a-mcgirr/believe-reality-is-what-you-were-taught-was-myth/) [Nicholas A. McGirr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-a-mcgirr/) > [If it is written and read with serious attention, a novel, like a myth or any great work of art, can become an initiation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/if-it-is-written-and-read-with-serious-attention-a-novel-like-a-myth/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [Beware of self-indulgence. The romance surrounding the writing profession carries several myths: that one must suffer in order to be creative; that one must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/beware-of-self-indulgence-the-romance-surrounding-the-writing/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [I have always been fascinated by the supernatural elements in stories, whether fairy tales, myths, film or literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trudi-canavan/i-have-always-been-fascinated-by-the-supernatural-elements-in-stories/) [Trudi Canavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trudi-canavan/) ## 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. 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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. 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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 Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. 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You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. 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