How we cite our quotes: (Page.Paragraph)
Quote #4
There can be no question: the psychological dangers through which earlier generations were guided by the symbols and spiritual exercises of their mythological and religious inheritance, we today (in so far as we are unbelievers, or, if believers, in so far as our inherited beliefs fail to represent the real problems of contemporary life) must face alone, or, at best, with only tentative, impromptu, and not often very effective guidance. This is our problem as modern, "enlightened" individuals, for whom all gods and devils have been rationalized out of existence. (76.4)
The rational is the enemy of the spiritual, and while rationality has help us out (polio vaccine, super nice), we can't let it cut us off from the bigger things that life is supposed to be about.
Quote #5
Totem, tribal, racial, and aggressively missionizing cults represent only partial solutions of the psychological problem of subduing hate by love; they only partially initiate. Ego is not annihilated in them; rather, it is enlarged; instead of thinking only of himself, the individual becomes dedicated to the whole of his society. (144.1)
This is the importance of traditions, not to make us conform to something we're not, but to expand our way of thinking to help out other people… and to feel the ways that we're connected to them.
Quote #6
The outlines of myths and tales are subject to damage and obscuration. Archaic traits are generally eliminated or subdued. Imported materials are revised to fit local landscape, custom, or belief, and always suffer in the process. (228.2)
This is one of the reasons why, say, the story of Perseus and the Medusa may not hold an excessive amount of interest for us, but OMG did you see how awesome that last Captain America movie was?
By applying older concepts to our modern life, we see the relevance of those concepts, not as something from thousands of years ago, but as something that's with us here and now, every day.