Quotes by Steven Pressfield

“The professional arms himself with patience, not only to give the stars time to align in his career, but to keep himself from flaming out in each individual work. He knows that any job, whether its...”

“Stay stupid. Follow your unconventional, crazy heart.”

“The sign of the amateur is overglorification of and preoccupation with the mystery. The professional shuts up. She doesn't talk about it. She does her work.”

“The part that needs healing is our personal life. Personal life has nothing to do with work. Besides, what better way of healing than to find our center of self-sovereignty? Isn't that the whole po...”

“. . . None of us are born as passive generic blobs waiting for the world to stamp its imprint on us. Instead we show up possessing already a highly refined and individuated soul.Another way of thin...”

“It can pay off, being a hack. Given the depraved state of American culture, a slick dude can make millions being a hack. But even if you succeed, you lose, because you've sold out your Muse, and yo...”

“The hack is like a politician who consults the polls before he takes a position. He's a demagogue. He panders.”

“Writers think in metaphors. Editors work in metaphors. A great reader reads in metaphors.All are continually asking, "What does this represent? What does it stand for?"They are trying to take every...”

“The awakening an artist must be ruthless, not only with herself but with others.”

“The artist committing himself to his calling has volunteered for hell.”

“You know, Hitler wanted to be an artist. At eighteen he took his inheritance, seven hundred kronen, and moved to Vienna to live and study... Ever see one of his paintings? Neither have I. Resistanc...”

“The marine corps teaches you how to be miserable. This is invaluable for an artist. Marines love to be miserable. Marines derive a perverse satisfaction in having colder chow, crappier equipment, a...”

“It's not the writing part that's hard. What's hard is sitting down to write.What keeps us from sitting down is Resistance.”

“Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do. Remember our rule of thumb: The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have ...”

“The artist and the mother are vehicles, not originators. They don't create the new life, they only bear it. This is why birth is such a humbling experience. The new mom weeps in awe at the little m...”

“The song were composing already exists in potential. Our work is to find it.”

“At least twice a week, I pause in the rush of work and have a meeting with myself. (If I were part of a team, Id call a team meeting.) I ask myself, again, of the project: What is this damn thing a...”

“A work-in-progress generates its own energy field. You, the artist or entrepreneur, are pouring love into the work; you are suffusing it with passion and intention and hope.”

“No matter how great a writer, artist, or entrepreneur, he is a mortal, he is fallible. He is not proof against Resistance. He will drop the ball; he will crash. Thats why they call it rewriting.”

“The drawing is also a reminder that theres an artist within each of us, and we must encourage that artist to do the work, to make something that matters, regardless of anything else that is going on.”