Steven Pressfield Quotes - Page 4

The professional loves her work. She is invested in it wholeheartedly. But she does not forget that the work is not her.

Courage is inseparable from love and leads to what may arguably be the noblest of all warrior virtues: selflessness.

Don't wait for someone else to validate you. Validate yourself.

In my experience, depth of work consists of two components. The first is recklessness; the second is discipline. Dionysian; Apollonian. Passion;reason.

When we are succeeding - that is, when we have begun to overcome our self-doubt and self-sabotage, when we are advancing in our craft and evolving to a higher level - that's when panic strikes. When we experience panic, it means that we're about to cross a threshold. We're poised on the doorstep of a higher plane.

Like a magnetized needle floating on a surface of oil, Resistance will unfailingly point to true North--meaning that calling or action it most wants to stop us from doing. We can use this. We can use it as a compass. We can navigate by Resistance, letting it guide us to that calling or action that we must follow before all others. Rule of thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul's evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.

The essence of professionalism is the focus upon the work and its demands, while we are doing it, to the exclusion of all else.

Resistance is not a peripheral opponent. Resistance arises from within. It is self-generated and self-perpetuated. resistance is the enemy within.

It is one thing to study war and another to live the warrior's life.

When we're living as amateurs, we're running away from our calling - meaning our work, our destiny, the obligation to become our truest and highest selves.

Slay that dragon once, and he will never have power over you again.

When we make our art a practice, when we make our workspace sacred and enter it daily with respect and high intention, then we elevate our actions (even if they're taking place within the profane arena of commerce) beyond ego and above gimme-gimme ambition.

I wrote in the War of Art that I could divide my life neatly into two parts: before turning pro and after. After is better.

Every sun casts a shadow, and genius's shadow is Resistance.

The professional will not tolerate disorder... He wants the carpet vacuumed and the threshold swept, so the Muse may enter and not soil her gown.

A cavalryman's horse should be smarter than he is. But the horse must never be alowed to know this.

Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It's a gift to the world and every being in it. Don't cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you've got.

Always attack. Even in defense, attack. The attacking arm possesses the initiative and thus commands the action. To attack makes men brave; to defend makes them timorous.

Late at night have you experienced a vision of the person you might become, the work you could accomplish, the realized being you were meant to be? Are you a writer who doesn't write, a painter who doesn't paint, an entrepreneur who never starts a venture? Then you know what Resistance is.

We cannot let external criticism, even if it's true, fortify our internal foe. That foe is strong enough already.

When we sit down to work, we become like a magnetized rod that attracts iron filings. Ideas come. Insights accrete.

Nothing is as empowering as real-world validation, even if it's for failure.

To labor in the arts for any reason other than love is prostitution.

Fame Imperishable and glory that will never die -- that is what we march for!

If you're are paralyzed with fear it's a good sign. It shows you what you have to do.