Research can become Resistance. We want to work, not prepare to work.
STEVEN PRESSFIELDThere’s a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t, and the secret is this: 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.
More Steven Pressfield Quotes
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Resistance by definition is self-sabotage.
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The best and only thing that one artist can do for another is to serve as an example and an inspiration.
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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.
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This man has conquered the world! What have you done?” The philosopher replied without an instant’s hesitation, “I have conquered the need to conquer the world.
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The artist cannot look to others to validate his efforts or his calling. If you don’t believe me, ask Van Gogh, who produced masterpiece after masterpiece and never found a buyer in his whole life.
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The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death.
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Don’t prepare, do. Don’t let Resistance sucker you into wasting months on background, foundation, planning. All that can come later.
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As all born teachers, he was primarily a student.
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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.
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In my experience, depth of work consists of two components. The first is recklessness; the second is discipline.
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The professional does not wait for inspiration; he acts in anticipation of it.
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Resistance is greatest just before the finish line.
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When we sit down day after day and keep grinding, something mysterious starts to happen… Unseen forces enlist in our cause; serendipity reinforces our purpose.
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Our job in this lifetime is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it.
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It’s better to be in the arena, getting stomped by the bull, than to be up in the stands or out in the parking lot.
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