# Quotes about mythology - Quotes: 47 - Authors: 28 - Broader topic: [Quotes about religion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/religion.md) - Topic page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology - JSON version (same data): https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.json ## Quotes > Behavior is imitated, then abstracted into play, formalized into drama and story, crystallized into myth and codified into religion—and only then criticized in philosophy, and provided, post-hoc, with rational underpinnings. [Jordan B. Peterson](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jordan-b-peterson.md) · [Maps of Meaning](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jordan-b-peterson/maps-of-meaning.md) · p. 78 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jordan-b-peterson/maps-of-meaning/behavior-is-imitated.md) Topics: [religion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/religion.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > Myths and fictions accustom... people... to think in certain ways, to believe in... certain standards, to want certain things, and to observe certain rules. ...[T]hereby ...artificial instincts ...enable millions of strangers to cooperate ...This network of artificial instinct is ...'Culture'. [Yuval Noah Harari](https://www.leafyquotes.com/yuval-noah-harari.md) · [Sapiens](https://www.leafyquotes.com/yuval-noah-harari/sapiens.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/yuval-noah-harari/sapiens/myths-and-fictions.md) Topics: [culture](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/culture.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > The various creation stories of ancient time were not scientific theories in any modern sense. They did not attempt to reveal anything new about the structures of the world; they aimed simply to remove the specter of the unknown from human imaginings. [John D. Barrow](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-d-barrow.md) · [The Origin Of The Universe](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-d-barrow/the-origin-of-the-universe.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-d-barrow/the-origin-of-the-universe/the-various-creation.md) Topics: [science](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/science.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > Just because something had spawned a myth did not automatically mean it had to contain anything of substance. [Alastair Reynolds](https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds.md) · [Chasm City](https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds/chasm-city.md) · p. 531 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds/chasm-city/just-because-something.md) Topics: [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > Fashions change. Even in mythology. [Tanith Lee](https://www.leafyquotes.com/tanith-lee.md) · [Delirium’s Mistress](https://www.leafyquotes.com/tanith-lee/deliriums-mistress.md) · p. 375 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/tanith-lee/deliriums-mistress/fashions-change-even.md) Topics: [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md), [fashion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fashion.md) > It’s legend now, but legend is the smoke from the fire, and the wood that the fire consumes is the substance. [Tanith Lee](https://www.leafyquotes.com/tanith-lee.md) · [The Birthgrave](https://www.leafyquotes.com/tanith-lee/the-birthgrave.md) · p. 151 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/tanith-lee/the-birthgrave/its-legend-now.md) Topics: [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > The [Greek] myths were... attempting—at a deeper level—to feel the intangible and say the unsayable. [Thomas Cahill](https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-cahill.md) · [Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea](https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-cahill/sailing-the-wine-dark-sea.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-cahill/sailing-the-wine-dark-sea/the-greek-myths.md) Topics: [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > Past a certain point, all the dates grow hazy and confused, and the clarity of history becomes the fog of legend. [George RR Martin](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin.md) · [A Dance with Dragons](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-dance-with-dragons.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-dance-with-dragons/past-a-certain.md) Topics: [history](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/history.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > Gods and wonders always appear, to attend the birth of kings. [George RR Martin](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin.md) · [A Dance with Dragons](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-dance-with-dragons.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-dance-with-dragons/gods-and-wonders.md) Topics: [power](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > Legends should stay legends; otherwise they just become history, when the natural course of things is the other way around, from history to legend. [Ian McDonald](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ian-mcdonald.md) · [The Dervish House](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ian-mcdonald/the-dervish-house.md) · p. 109 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ian-mcdonald/the-dervish-house/legends-should-stay.md) Topics: [history](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/history.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > Without proposing an evolutionary scheme for such types, it is safe to say that mythology represents the most archaic form of universe-maintenance, as indeed it represents the most archaic form of legitimation generally. [Peter L. Berger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-l-berger.md) · [The Social Construction of Reality](https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-l-berger/the-social-construction-of-reality.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-l-berger/the-social-construction-of-reality/without-proposing-an-evolutionary.md) Topics: [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > All legends have a base in fact. [David Gemmell](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell.md) · [The Swords of Night and Day](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/the-swords-of-night-and-day.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/the-swords-of-night-and-day/all-legends-have.md) Topics: [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > When they’d gone the old man turned around to watch the sun’s slow descent. The Boat of Millions of Years, he thought; the boat of the dying sungod Ra, tacking down the western sky to the source of the dark river that runs through the underworld from west to east, through the twelve hours of the night, at the far eastern end of which the boat will tomorrow reappear, bearing a once again youthful, newly reignited sun. > > Or, he thought bitterly, removed from us by a distance the universe shouldn’t even be able to encompass, it’s a vast motionless globe of burning gas, around which this little ball of a planet rolls like a pellet of dung propelled by a kephera beetle. Take your pick, he told himself as he started slowly down the hill...But be willing to die for your choice. [Tim Powers](https://www.leafyquotes.com/tim-powers.md) · [The Anubis Gates](https://www.leafyquotes.com/tim-powers/the-anubis-gates.md) · p. 3 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/tim-powers/the-anubis-gates/when-theyd-gone.md) Topics: [faith](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/faith.md), [choices](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/choices.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > Malcolm sighed. “Are you familiar with the concept of a technomyth? It was developed by Geller at Princeton. Basic thesis is that we've lost all the old myths, Orpheus and Eurydice and Perseus and Medusa. So we fill the gap with modern techno-myths. Geller listed a dozen or so. One is that an alien's living at a hangar at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Another is that somebody invented a carburetor that gets a hundred and fifty miles to the gallon, but the automobile companies bought the patent and are sitting on it. Then there's the story that the Russians trained children in ESP at a secret base in Siberia and these kids can kill people anywhere in the world with their thoughts. The story that the lines in Nazca, Peru, are an alien spaceport. That the CIA released the AIDS virus to kill homosexuals. That Nikola Tesla discovers an incredible energy source but his notes are lost. That in Istanbul there's a tenth-century drawing that shows the earth from space. That the Stanford Research Institute found a guy whose body glows in the dark. Get the picture?” [Michael Crichton](https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-crichton.md) · [The Lost World](https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-crichton/the-lost-world.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-crichton/the-lost-world/malcolm-sighed-are.md) Topics: [technology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/technology.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > “The Indians of the American Southwest called him Coyote, those of the Pacific Coast called him Raven. Europeans called him Reynard the Fox. African-Americans called him Br'er Rabbit. In twentieth-century literature he appears first as Bugs Bunny and then as the Hacker." > > "When I was a lad, that word had a double meaning. It could mean a trickster who broke into things—but it could also mean an especially skilled coder." > > "The ambiguity is common in post-Neolithic cultures," Hackworth said. "As technology became more important, the Trickster underwent a shift in character and became the god of crafts — of technology, if you will — while retaining the underlying roguish qualities. So we have the Sumerian Enki, the Greek Prometheus and Hermes, Norse Loki, and so on.” [Neal Stephenson](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neal-stephenson.md) · [The Diamond Age](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neal-stephenson/the-diamond-age.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neal-stephenson/the-diamond-age/the-indians-of-the.md) Topics: [technology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/technology.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > And that very strong one with the hammer. That might be Thor. > > “Actually,” the Gardener murmured,” he is Thor, Hercules, Apollo, Gilgamesh, Adonis, Osiris, Krishna, virtually every young male deity known for strength, beauty, and intrepidity, just as my colleague, Mr. Weathereye, is Odin, Jupiter, Jove, Allah, Jehovah, or any other ancient male deity known for wisdom, power, and prescience. And the old woman there, Lady Badness, is Erda, Norn, Moira, Sophia, the wisewoman who can detect the pattern in the weavings of happenstance before mankind here’s the shuttle coming.” > > “I’m named for her?” asked Sophia. > > “For her, yes. And I, Gardener, am also Demeter, Cybele, Freya, Earth Mother, Corn Goddess, a thousand names of female deities wise in the ways of growing things, solicitous of women and children, caretakers of the beasts of the field and the woods. Some of us Members are sizable, for many mortals, including humans, believe in strength, and power, and nurture, and wisdom.” > > “What are all those hunched-up things?” asked Sophia. > > The Gardener shook her head.” Sophia, those are the gods many humans prefer. They are hunched from ages of sitting on peoples shoulders, whispering encouragement.” > > “But they’re tiny!” she said, in disbelief. > > “Many humans prefer tiny gods,” said the Gardener. “Tiny gods of limited preoccupations…” > > “Limited to what?” I demanded. > > “To mankind, of course. And to each believer, particularly. Each human wants god to be his or her best friend, and it’s easier to imagine god being your best friend if he is a tiny little god interested only in a tiny world that’s only a kind of vestibule to an exclusive little heaven.” > > “Some of them are yelling,” said Sophia. > > “Oh, yes. Those are hellfire gods. Since there is no supernatural hell, they never really send anyone there, but their sources get enormous pleasure, thinking about it.” [Sheri S. Tepper](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper.md) · [The Margarets](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/the-margarets.md) · p. 280 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/the-margarets/and-that-very.md) Topics: [god](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/god.md), [selfishness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/selfishness.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > “There’s a lot of fathering in those legends,” Sal commented, disapprovingly. “A lot of fathering, a lot of kinging, a lot of death and violence, and very little uncleing and ordinary kindly living.” [Sheri S. Tepper](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper.md) · [Raising The Stones](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/raising-the-stones.md) · p. 53 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/raising-the-stones/theres-a-lot.md) Topics: [kindness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness.md), [violence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/violence.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > Jehovah, it seems clear, was once regarded as a devoted son of the Great Goddess, who obeyed her in all things and by her favor swallowed up a number of variously named rival gods and godlings — the Terebinth-god, the Thunder-god, the Pomegranate-god, the Bull-god, the Goat-god, the Antelope-god, the Calf-god, the Porpoise-god, the Ram-god, the Ass-god, the Barley-god, the god of Healing, the Moon-god, the god of the Dog-star, the Sun-god. Later (if it is permitted to write in this style) he did exactly what his Roman counterpart, Capitoline Jove, has done: he formed a supernal Trinity in conjunction with two of the Goddess's three persons, namely, Anatha of the Lions and Ashima of the Doves, the counterparts of Juno and Minerva; the remaining person, a sort of Hecate named Sheol, retiring to rule the infernal regions. [Robert Graves](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-graves.md) · [King Jesus](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-graves/king-jesus.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-graves/king-jesus/jehovah-it-seems.md) Topics: [religion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/religion.md), [god](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/god.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > Ancient Europe had no gods. The Great Goddess was regarded as immortal, changeless, and omnipotent; and the concept of fatherhood had not been introduced into religious thought. She took lovers, but for pleasure, not to provide her children with a father. Men feared, adored, and obeyed the matriarch; the hearth which she tended in a cave or hut being their earliest social centre, and motherhood their prime mystery. [Robert Graves](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-graves.md) · [The Greek Myths](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-graves/the-greek-myths.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-graves/the-greek-myths/ancient-europe-had.md) Topics: [women](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/women.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md), [motherhood](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/motherhood.md) > Her story was a creation myth, a legend already more than twenty thousand years old. Such tales—which said that Jahna’s people were the pinnacle of creation, that theirs was the only right way, and that all others were less than human—taught the people to care passionately about themselves, their kin, and a few treasured ideals. > > But to the exclusion of all other humans, let alone such non-people as the Old Man’s kind. [Stephen Baxter](https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-baxter.md) · [Evolution](https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-baxter/evolution.md) · p. 432 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-baxter/evolution/her-story-was.md) Topics: [prejudice](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/prejudice.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > “You're living in the real world now,” Spider said sadly. “It’s come from something. It’s going to something. Myths always lie in the most difficult places to ignore.” [Samuel R. Delany](https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany.md) · [The Einstein Intersection](https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/the-einstein-intersection.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/the-einstein-intersection/youre-living-in-the.md) Topics: [reality](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/reality.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > In myths things always turn into their opposites as one version supersedes the next. [Samuel R. Delany](https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany.md) · [The Einstein Intersection](https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/the-einstein-intersection.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/the-einstein-intersection/in-myths-things.md) Topics: [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > I am not far from believing that, in our own societies, history has replaced mythology and fulfils the same function, that for societies without writing and without archives the aim of mythology is to ensure that as closely as possible—complete closeness is obviously impossible—the future will remain faithful to the present and to the past. [Claude Lévi-Strauss](https://www.leafyquotes.com/claude-levi-strauss.md) · [Myth and Meaning](https://www.leafyquotes.com/claude-levi-strauss/myth-and-meaning.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/claude-levi-strauss/myth-and-meaning/i-am-not.md) Topics: [history](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/history.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > I consider the saga of no lord of the Silver Stallion to be worth squabbling over. Your sagas in the end must all be perverted and engulfed by the great legend about Manuel. No matter how you strive against that legend, it will conquer: no matter what you may do or suffer, my doomed Guivric, your saga will be recast until it conforms in everything to the legend begotten by the terrified imaginings of a lost child. For men dare not face the universe with no better backing than their own resources; all men that live, and that go perforce about this world like blundering lost children whose rescuer is not yet in sight, have a vital need to believe in this sustaining legend about the Redeemer: and the wickedness and the foolishness of no man can avail against the fond optimism of mankind. [James Branch Cabell](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-branch-cabell.md) · [The Silver Stallion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-branch-cabell/the-silver-stallion.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-branch-cabell/the-silver-stallion/i-consider-the.md) Topics: [religion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/religion.md), [hope](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hope.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > One thing that comes out in myths is that at the bottom of the abyss comes the voice of salvation. The black moment is the moment when the real message of transformation is going to come. At the darkest moment comes the light. [Joseph Campbell](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-campbell.md) · [The Power of Myth](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-campbell/the-power-of-myth.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-campbell/the-power-of-myth/one-thing-that.md) Topics: [hope](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hope.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > We have not even to risk the adventure alone, for the heroes of all time have gone before us — the labyrinth is thoroughly known. We have only to follow the thread of the hero path, and where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god; where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves; where we had thought to travel outward, we shall come to the center of our own existence. And where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world. [Joseph Campbell](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-campbell.md) · [The Power of Myth](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-campbell/the-power-of-myth.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-campbell/the-power-of-myth/we-have-not.md) Topics: [heroism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/heroism.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > Now, what is a myth? The dictionary definition of a myth would be stories about gods. So then you have to ask the next question: What is a god? A god is a personification of a motivating power or a value system that functions in human life and in the universe – the powers of your own body and of nature. [Joseph Campbell](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-campbell.md) · [The Power of Myth](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-campbell/the-power-of-myth.md) · p. 28 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-campbell/the-power-of-myth/now-what-is-a-myth.md) Topics: [god](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/god.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > Jehovah destroyed city after city, every man, woman, and child, down to the youngest baby. Odin killed only in combat against opponents his own size. But, most important difference of all, Father Odin is not all powerful and does not claim to be all wise. [Robert A. Heinlein](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein.md) · [Job: A Comedy of Justice](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/job-a-comedy-of-justice.md) · p. 140 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/job-a-comedy-of-justice/jehovah-destroyed-city.md) Topics: [god](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/god.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > How persistent it is, this demand that our gods be perfect. The Greeks were much more reasonable about such things. [Frank Herbert](https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert.md) · [God Emperor of Dune](https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/god-emperor-of-dune.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/god-emperor-of-dune/how-persistent-it-is-this.md) Topics: [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md), [perfection](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/perfection.md) > I assure you from a God's Olympian perch that government is a shared myth. When the myth dies, the government dies. [Frank Herbert](https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert.md) · [God Emperor of Dune](https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/god-emperor-of-dune.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/god-emperor-of-dune/i-assure-you.md) Topics: [the state](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-state.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > Why did the old Persians hold the sea holy? Why did the Greeks give it a separate deity, and own brother of Jove? Surely all this is not without meaning. And still deeper the meaning of that story of Narcissus, who because he could not grasp the tormenting, mild image he saw in the fountain, plunged into it and was drowned. But that same image, we ourselves see in all rivers and oceans. It is the image of the ungraspable phantom of life; and this is the key to it all. [Herman Melville](https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville.md) · [Moby-Dick](https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville/moby-dick.md) · p. 3 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville/moby-dick/why-did-the.md) Topics: [life](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/life.md), [the sea](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-sea.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > Dialectic, which is the parent of logic, came itself from rhetoric. Rhetoric is in turn the child of the myths and poetry of ancient Greece. That is so historically, and that is so by any application of common sense. The poetry and the myths are the response of a prehistoric people to the universe around them made on the basis of Quality. It is Quality, not dialectic, which is the generator of everything we know. [Robert M. Pirsig](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-m-pirsig.md) · [Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-m-pirsig/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-m-pirsig/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance/dialectic-which-is-the.md) Topics: [logic](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/logic.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md), [quality](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/quality.md) > There is only one kind of person, Phædrus said, who accepts or rejects the mythos in which he lives. And the definition of that person, when he has rejected the mythos, Phædrus said, is "insane." To go outside the mythos is to become insane. [Robert M. Pirsig](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-m-pirsig.md) · [Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-m-pirsig/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-m-pirsig/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance/there-is-only.md) Topics: [madness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/madness.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > In many myths, the one possibility the gods are most anxious about is that humans will discover some secret of immortality or even... attempt to stride the high heavens. ...It's a little bit like the rich imposing poverty on the poor and then asking to be loved because of it. [Carl Sagan](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan.md) · [The Varieties of Scientific Experience](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/the-varieties-of-scientific-experience.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/the-varieties-of-scientific-experience/in-many-myths.md) Topics: [immortality](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/immortality.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > Do we, holding that the gods exist, > > deceive ourselves with insubstantial dreams > > and lies, while random careless chance and > > change alone control the world? [Carl Sagan](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan.md) · [Contact](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/contact.md) · p. 157 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/contact/do-we-holding.md) Topics: [chance](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/chance.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > Even the gods cannot change destiny. [Neil Gaiman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman.md) · [Norse Mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/norse-mythology.md) · p. 234 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/norse-mythology/even-the-gods.md) Topics: [fate](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fate.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > I liked myths. They weren't adult stories and they weren't children's stories. They were better than that. They just were. [Neil Gaiman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman.md) · [The Ocean at the End of the Lane](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/the-ocean-at-the-end-of-the-lane.md) · p. 69 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/the-ocean-at-the-end-of-the-lane/i-liked-myths.md) Topics: [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > "This is a bad land for gods," said Shadow. As an opening statement it wasn't Friends, Romans, countrymen, but it would do. "You've probably all learned that. The old gods are ignored. The new gods are as quickly taken up as they are abandoned, cast aside for the next big thing. Either you've been forgotten, or you're scared you're going to be rendered obsolete, or maybe you're just getting tired of existing on the whim of people." [Neil Gaiman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman.md) · [American Gods](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/american-gods.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/american-gods/this-is-a-bad.md) Topics: [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md), [forgetting](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/forgetting.md) > Shadow shook his head. "You know," he said, "I think I would rather be a man than a god. We don’t need anyone to believe in us. We just keep going anyhow. It’s what we do." [Neil Gaiman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman.md) · [American Gods](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/american-gods.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/american-gods/shadow-shook-his.md) Topics: [human nature](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-nature.md), [faith](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/faith.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > "Gods are great," said Atsula, slowly, as if she were imparting a great secret. "But the heart is greater. For it is from our hearts they come, and to our hearts they shall return..." [Neil Gaiman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman.md) · [American Gods](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/american-gods.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/american-gods/gods-are-great.md) Topics: [faith](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/faith.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > Would you believe that all the gods that people have ever imagined are still with us today? … And that there are new gods out there, gods of computers and telephones and whatever, and that they all seem to think there isn't room for them both in the world. And that some kind of war is kind of likely. [Neil Gaiman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman.md) · [American Gods](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/american-gods.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/american-gods/would-you-believe.md) Topics: [technology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/technology.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > Even for my kind, pain still hurts. If you move and act in the material world, then the material world acts on you. Pain hurts, just as greed intoxicates and lust burns. We may not die easy and we sure as hell don't die well, but we can die. If we're still loved and remembered, something else a whole lot like us comes along and takes our place and the whole damn thing starts all over again. And if we're forgotten, we're done. [Neil Gaiman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman.md) · [American Gods](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/american-gods.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/american-gods/even-for-my-kind.md) Topics: [suffering](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/suffering.md), [memory](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/memory.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > Gods die. And when they truly die they are unmourned and unremembered. Ideas are more difficult to kill than people, but they can be killed, in the end. [Neil Gaiman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman.md) · [American Gods](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/american-gods.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/american-gods/gods-die-and.md) Topics: [death](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/death.md), [ideas](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/ideas.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > One day every soldier in the empire has to shower in the blood of your sacrificial bull. The next day they don't even remember your birthday. [Neil Gaiman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman.md) · [American Gods](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/american-gods.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/american-gods/one-day-every.md) Topics: [transience](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/transience.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > “These are gods who have been forgotten, and now might as well be dead. They can be found only in dry histories. They are gone, all gone, but their names and their images remain with us.” [Neil Gaiman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman.md) · [American Gods](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/american-gods.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/american-gods/these-are-gods.md) Topics: [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md), [forgetting](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/forgetting.md) > Even when he turns from religion, man remains subject to it; depleting himself to create false gods, he then feverishly adopts them; his need for fiction, for mythology triumphs over evidence and absurdity alike. [Emil Cioran](https://www.leafyquotes.com/emil-cioran.md) · [A Short History of Decay](https://www.leafyquotes.com/emil-cioran/a-short-history-of-decay.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/emil-cioran/a-short-history-of-decay/even-when-he-turns.md) Topics: [religion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/religion.md), [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md) > Gorgons and Hydras and Chimæras dire. [John Milton](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-milton.md) · [Paradise Lost](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-milton/paradise-lost.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-milton/paradise-lost/gorgons-and-hydras.md) Topics: [mythology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology.md)