How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
When Arpad came on duty at six last night, he demanded to see what I'd written so far. I gave him the very few pages, and Arpad walked up and down the corridor, waving and praising the pages extravagantly.
He didn't read them. He praised them for what he imagined to be in them. (3.2-3)
If you've ever talked about literature at a party—come on, we know you have—you know that people are pretty inclined to both praise and diss works of literature they haven't actually read. There are different reasons for that, but when your own opinions are so ingrained in your brain, sometimes it's hard to hear new things. That sounds like a dangerous way to go through life—not to mention a disservice to whatever it is you're supposed to be reading.
Quote #2
Hoess heard that I was a writer, and he got me to one side at the party, and he said he wished he could write.
'How I envy you creative people—' he said to me. 'Creativity is a gift from the gods.'
Hoess said he had some marvelous stories to tell. He said they were all true, but that people wouldn't be able to believe them. (5.2-4)
Calling a skill a gift kind of obscures the hard work that goes into it. We don't think that's actually what Hoess is getting at here; it's more like he's trying to understand why writing isn't a go for him. What we really want to pause on here, though, is the notion of unbelievable stories. This is a happy little meta moment, since Campbell is actually telling us a story we can't believe. And yet it's true.
Quote #3
'I saw the play you've got running now, and I've read the one you're going to open.'
'Oh?' I said. 'And what did you learn from those?'
He smiled. 'That you admire pure hearts and heroes,' he said. 'That you love good and hate evil' he said, 'and that you believe in romance.' (9.64-66)
According to Wirtanen, Campbell's easy to read. In fact, he's a hopeless romantic who's a sucker for a good story—Campbell's own stories told him so. Everyone's a literary critic.