The Soul's Code: In Search of Character and CallingRandom House Publishing Group, 2013 M02 6 - 352 pages “[An] acute and powerful vision . . . offers a renaissance of humane values.”—Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul and The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life Plato called it “daimon,” the Romans “genius,” the Christians “guardian angel”; today we use such terms as “heart,” “spirit,” and “soul.” While philosophers and psychologists from Plato to Jung have studied and debated the fundamental essence of our individuality, our modern culture refuses to accept that a unique soul guides each of us from birth, shaping the course of our lives. In this extraordinary bestseller, James Hillman presents a brilliant vision of our selves, and an exciting approach to the mystery at the center of every life that asks, “What is it, in my heart, that I must do, be, and have? And why?” Drawing on the biographies of figures such as Ella Fitzgerald and Mohandas K. Gandhi, Hillman argues that character is fate, that there is more to each individual than can be explained by genetics and environment. The result is a reasoned and powerful road map to understanding our true nature and discovering an eye-opening array of choices—from the way we raise our children to our career paths to our social and personal commitments to achieving excellence in our time. Praise for The Soul’s Code “Champions a glorious sort of rugged individualism that, with the help of an inner daimon (or guardian angel), can triumph against all odds.”—The Washington Post Book World “[A] brilliant, absorbing work . . . Hillman dares us to believe that we are each meant to be here, that we are needed by the world around us.”—Publishers Weekly |
From inside the book
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... Fates [Moirai]. —Plotinus, II.3.15 Moira? the finished shape of our fate, the line drawn round it. It is the task the gods allot us, and the share of glory they allow; the limits we must not pass; and our appointed end. Moira is all ...
... Fates [Moirai]. —Plotinus, II.3.15 Moira? the finished shape of our fate, the line drawn round it. It is the task the gods allot us, and the share of glory they allow; the limits we must not pass; and our appointed end. Moira is all ...
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... fate had a hand in it. This book is about that sense of fate. These kinds of annunciations and recollections determine biography as strongly as memories of abusive horror; but these more enigmatic moments tend to be shelved. Our ...
... fate had a hand in it. This book is about that sense of fate. These kinds of annunciations and recollections determine biography as strongly as memories of abusive horror; but these more enigmatic moments tend to be shelved. Our ...
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... fate. Otherwise your identity continues to be that of a sociological consumer determined by random statistics, and the unacknowledged daimon's urgings appear as eccentricities, compacted with angry resentments and overwhelming longings ...
... fate. Otherwise your identity continues to be that of a sociological consumer determined by random statistics, and the unacknowledged daimon's urgings appear as eccentricities, compacted with angry resentments and overwhelming longings ...
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... , and therefore ignore, the sense of calling, that essential mystery at the heart of each human life. In a nutshell, then, this book is about calling, about fate, about character, about innate image. Together they make up.
... , and therefore ignore, the sense of calling, that essential mystery at the heart of each human life. In a nutshell, then, this book is about calling, about fate, about character, about innate image. Together they make up.
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... fate holds all in the copresence of today, yesterday, and tomorrow. Your person is not a process or a development. You are that essential image that develops, if it does. As Picasso said, “I don't develop; I am.” For this is the nature ...
... fate holds all in the copresence of today, yesterday, and tomorrow. Your person is not a process or a development. You are that essential image that develops, if it does. As Picasso said, “I don't develop; I am.” For this is the nature ...
Contents
3 | |
Neither Nature nor NurtureSomething Else | |
Penny Dreadfuls and Pure Fantasy | |
Disguise | |
Fate | |
The Bad Seed | |
Mediocrity | |
A Note on Methodology | |
Dedication | |
Bibliography | |
Other Books by This Author | |
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Common terms and phrases
acorn theory American angel archetypal Archetypal Psychology asked Bad Seed Barbara McClintock beauty become behavior believe belong biography calling chapter character child childhood culture daimon death demonic destiny Diane Arbus disguises divine doppelgänger early eminent environment evil extraordinary fantasy fate father feeling fiction genes genetic genius Goertzel Golda Meir heart Heraclitus Hitler human idea identical twins imagination individual Ingmar Bergman intuition invented invisible James James Hillman Josephine Baker Judy Garland lives loneliness look love map Manolete means mediocrity mentor mind mother myth mythical nature Necessity never nurture obsessive one’s parental fallacy pattern perception person Plato Plomin Plotinus Press psychology Psychopathic rituals Robert Plomin romantic love sense soul soul’s story style T. S. Eliot teacher teleology things unique Univ unshared visible vision what’s write York