“Man should not be in the service of society, society should be in the service of man. When man is in the service of society, you have a monster state, and that's what is threatening the world at this minute. ...Certainly Star Wars has a valid mythological perspective. It shows the state as a machine and asks, "Is the machine going to crush humanity or serve humanity?" Humanity comes not from the machine but from the heart. What I see in Star Wars is the same problem that Faust gives us: Mephistopheles, the machine man, can provide us with all the means, and is thus likely to determine the aims of life as well. But of course the characteristic of Faust, which makes him eligible to be saved, is that he seeks aims that are not those of the machine. Now, when Luke Skywalker unmasks his father, he is taking off the machine role that the father has played. The father was the uniform. That is power, the state role.”
―
―
“We're so engaged in doing things to achieve purposes of outer value that we forget the inner value, the rapture that is associated with being alive, is what it is all about.”
― The Power of Myth
― The Power of Myth
“Wherever the poetry of myth is interpreted as biography, history, or science, it is killed.”
― The Hero With a Thousand Faces
― The Hero With a Thousand Faces
Lishui’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Lishui’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Polls voted on by Lishui
Lists liked by Lishui












