--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The very cave you are afraid to enter…" description: "\"The very cave you are afraid to enter turns out to be the source of what you are looking for.\" — Joseph Campbell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4dc/joseph-campbell-300_cave_the-very-cave-you-are-afraid-to-enter-tu_386664.png" --- # The very cave you are afraid to enter turns out to be the… ![“The very cave you are afraid to enter turns out to be the source of what you are looking for.” quote by Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4dc/joseph-campbell-300_cave_the-very-cave-you-are-afraid-to-enter-tu_386664.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4dc/joseph-campbell-300_cave_the-very-cave-you-are-afraid-to-enter-tu_386664.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4dc/joseph-campbell-300_cave_the-very-cave-you-are-afraid-to-enter-tu_386664.png) > “The very cave you are afraid to enter turns out to be the source of what you are looking for.” [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. Facing feared places often reveals the very thing you seek. **In simple terms:** Fearful places hold hidden answers. Key Takeaway Confront fear to discover what you need. Themes courage self‑discovery myth inner journey growth Mood inquisitive motivational Type reflective inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - problem solving - spiritual practice - adventure Key Concepts heroic quest psychology of fear Questions to Reflect On - What hidden resources lie behind your fears? - How can you safely explore intimidating situations? A Different Perspective Fear may be overwhelming; not all answers are positive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cave/) [Caves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/caves/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) ## Related quotes > [Where you stumble, there lies your treasure. The very cave you are afraid to enter turns out to be the source of what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/where-you-stumble-there-lies-your-treasure-the-very-cave-you-are/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [Then the Old Man of the Earth stooped over the floor of the cave, raised a huge stone from it, and left it leaning.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/then-the-old-man-of-the-earth-stooped-over-the-floor-of-the-cave/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [You can go into caves, and they can maintain constant conditions of temperature and humidity over long periods of time, even though the outside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hendrik-poinar/you-can-go-into-caves-and-they-can-maintain-constant-conditions-of/) [Hendrik Poinar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hendrik-poinar/) > [There is this cave In the air behind my body That nobody is going to touch: A cloister, a silence Closing around a blossom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wright/there-is-this-cave-in-the-air-behind-my-body-that-nobody-is-going-to/) [James Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wright/) > [One just principle from the depths of a cave is more powerful than an army.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-marti/one-just-principle-from-the-depths-of-a-cave-is-more-powerful-than-an/) [Jose Marti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-marti/) > [Consider the situation. There you are, forehead like a set of balconies, worrying about the long-term effects of all this new 'fire' stuff on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/consider-the-situation-there-you-are-forehead-like-a-set-of-balconies/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Born on a mountain, raised in a cave. Arresting fugitives is all I crave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-chapman/born-on-a-mountain-raised-in-a-cave-arresting-fugitives-is-all-i-crave/) [Duane Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-chapman/) > [I am really indoors-y. I am a video game and movie buff, and this keeps me in my little boy cave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-gilman/i-am-really-indoors-y-i-am-a-video-game-and-movie-buff-and-this-keeps/) [Jared Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-gilman/) > [You're after something - not a story, but a certain, exquisitely intense encounter with beauty - and the only way to find it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-finnegan/you-re-after-something-not-a-story-but-a-certain-exquisitely-intense/) [William Finnegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-finnegan/) > [I would get a lot of writing done if I lived in isolation in a cave under a swamp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-cameron/i-would-get-a-lot-of-writing-done-if-i-lived-in-isolation-in-a-cave/) [Claire Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-cameron/) > [I don't ever want t' leave this cave, Jon Snow. Not ever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-don-t-ever-want-t-leave-this-cave-jon-snow-not-ever/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm Andrea Thompson, and unless you've been living in a cave, you probably already know that](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-thompson/i-m-andrea-thompson-and-unless-you-ve-been-living-in-a-cave-you/) [Andrea Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-thompson/) > [You know,” he said, “I wish you could see this cave.” “What’s it like?” He paused. “It’s...beautiful, really.” “Tell me.” And so Po described…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/you-know-he-said-i-wish-you-could-see-this-cave-what-s-it-like-he/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [(At the back of the cave, Phoebe placed her hand against one of the stones where a spring release opened an elevator door. Chris…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/at-the-back-of-the-cave-phoebe-placed-her-hand-against-one-of-the/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [A man in a cave or in a camp, a nomad, will die with no more estate than the wolf or the horse leaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-in-a-cave-or-in-a-camp-a-nomad-will-die-with-no-more-estate/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## 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 Cave quotes > [Gravity Falls' didn't just appear overnight - every spooky cave and moss covered tree was created by a team of brilliant artists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-hirsch/gravity-falls-didn-t-just-appear-overnight-every-spooky-cave-and-moss/) [Alex Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-hirsch/) > [A man in a cave or in a camp, a nomad, will die with no more estate than the wolf or the horse leaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-in-a-cave-or-in-a-camp-a-nomad-will-die-with-no-more-estate/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“Try to think of it as though we are rewriting history––the first time this experience occurred you and I never kissed in this Dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-caligiuri/try-to-think-of-it-as-though-we-are-rewriting-history-the-first-time/) [Ross Caligiuri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-caligiuri/) > [Be brave. Don't just live in your cave till your grave.-RVM](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rvm/be-brave-don-t-just-live-in-your-cave-till-your-grave-rvm/) RVM > [(At the back of the cave, Phoebe placed her hand against one of the stones where a spring release opened an elevator door. Chris…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/at-the-back-of-the-cave-phoebe-placed-her-hand-against-one-of-the/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [“My dream is to create something so beautiful that it encourages people to present the best version of themselves to me everywhere I go.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-caligiuri/my-dream-is-to-create-something-so-beautiful-that-it-encourages/) [Ross Caligiuri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-caligiuri/) > [Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave know best. Although I wear a lot of jeans, I've been told that Nick Cave doesn't own a pair…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-berninger/leonard-cohen-and-nick-cave-know-best-although-i-wear-a-lot-of-jeans/) [Matt Berninger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-berninger/) > [You know,” he said, “I wish you could see this cave.” “What’s it like?” He paused. “It’s...beautiful, really.” “Tell me.” And so Po described…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/you-know-he-said-i-wish-you-could-see-this-cave-what-s-it-like-he/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [A Pitiful person who is afraid of taking risks, will never be disappointed or disillusioned; perhaps he won't suffer the way people do when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-pitiful-person-who-is-afraid-of-taking-risks-will-never-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“On the walls of the cave, only the shadows are the truth”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-allegory-of-the-cave-plato/on-the-walls-of-the-cave-only-the-shadows-are-the-truth/) The Allegory of the Cave Plato > [And then I met Jerry and he's such a creative fiction writer, and I don't know if there's ever been a team put together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-lahaye/and-then-i-met-jerry-and-he-s-such-a-creative-fiction-writer-and-i/) [Tim LaHaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-lahaye/) > [I'm Andrea Thompson, and unless you've been living in a cave, you probably already know that](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-thompson/i-m-andrea-thompson-and-unless-you-ve-been-living-in-a-cave-you/) [Andrea Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-thompson/) > [“In every dark cave there is always a bright side too.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelleskii/in-every-dark-cave-there-is-always-a-bright-side-too/) Nelleskii > [“Sleep this night is not a dark haunted domain the mind must consciously set itself to invade, but a cave inside himself, into which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/sleep-this-night-is-not-a-dark-haunted-domain-the-mind-must/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“As her feet beat the concrete ground beneath them, her chest began to ache. It had been a long time since she had run…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-caligiuri/as-her-feet-beat-the-concrete-ground-beneath-them-her-chest-began-to/) [Ross Caligiuri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-caligiuri/) [Browse all 212 Cave quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cave/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The very cave you are afraid to enter turns out to be the source of what you are looking for.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joseph Campbell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-very-cave-you-are-afraid-to-enter-turns-out-to-be-the-source-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cave" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-very-cave-you-are-afraid-to-enter-turns-out-to-be-the-source-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4dc/joseph-campbell-300_cave_the-very-cave-you-are-afraid-to-enter-tu_386664.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4dc/joseph-campbell-300_cave_the-very-cave-you-are-afraid-to-enter-tu_386664.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4dc/joseph-campbell-300_cave_the-very-cave-you-are-afraid-to-enter-tu_386664.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The very cave you are afraid to enter turns out to be the source of what you are looking for.” — 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": "The very cave you are afraid...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-very-cave-you-are-afraid-to-enter-turns-out-to-be-the-source-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-very-cave-you-are-afraid-to-enter-turns-out-to-be-the-source-of/#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 } } ] } ```