The Force of Character Quotes

“It seems, as one becomes older, / That the past has another pattern, and ceases to be a mere sequence,” wrote T. S. Eliot. Four Quartets, which meditates on time, age, and memory, goes on to say, “We had the experience but missed the meaning, / And approach to the meaning restores the experience / In a different form, beyond any meaning.”
― James Hillman, The Force of Character: And the Lasting Life

“What ages is not merely your functions and organs, but the whole of your nature, that particular person you have come to be and already were years ago.”
― James Hillman, The Force of Character: And the Lasting Life

“To the question, “Why am I old?” the usual answer is, “Because I am becoming dead.” But the facts show that I reveal more character as I age, not more death.”
― James Hillman, The Force of Character: And the Lasting Life

“The willful amnesia afflicting the sciences in general contrasts sharply with the importance given to memory by the humanities. Literature, philosophy, politics, and the visual arts, including photography and filmmaking, feed on memory. Practitioners of the humanities need memory to deepen and refine their thinking.”
― James Hillman, The Force of Character: And the Lasting Life

“Longevity”
― James Hillman, The Force of Character: And the Lasting Life

“One of the goals of alchemists was to concoct the “elixir,” a panacea that would heal all ills and prolong all lives. This miraculous substance had many names, the most inclusive being lapis philosophorum, philosophers’ stone.”
― James Hillman, The Force of Character: And the Lasting Life