The amateur tweets. The pro works.
STEVEN PRESSFIELDCreative 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.
More Steven Pressfield Quotes
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The professional tackles the project that will make him stretch. He takes on the assignment that will bear him into uncharted waters, compel him to explore unconscious parts of himself. Is he scared? Hell, yes. He’s petrified.
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Research can become Resistance. We want to work, not prepare to work.
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The amateur believes he must first overcome his fear; then he can do his work. The professional knows that fear can never be overcome. He knows there is no such thing as a fearless warrior or a dread-free artist.
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We fear discovering that we are more than we think we are… That we actually have the guts, the perserverance, the capacity… because, if it’s true, then we become estranged from all we know.
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Don’t prepare. Begin. Our enemy is not lack of preparation. The enemy is resistance, our chattering brain producing excuses. Start before you are ready.
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The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.
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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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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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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.
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Be too dumb to quit and too stubborn to back off.
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Playing the game for money produces the proper professional attitude. It inculcates the lunch-pail state of mind that shows up for work despite rain or snow or dark of night and slugs it out day after day.
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A cavalryman’s horse should be smarter than he is. But the horse must never be allowed to know this.
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When we turn pro we stop running from our fears. We turn around and face them.
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As all born teachers, he was primarily a student.
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Slay that dragon once, and he will never have power over you again.
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Every sun casts a shadow, and genius’s shadow is Resistance.
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Do you love your idea? Does it feel right on instinct? Are you willing to bleed for it?
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The professional does not wait for inspiration; he acts in anticipation of it.
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What finally convinced me to go ahead was simply that I was so unhappy not going ahead.
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To yield to Resistance deforms our spirit. It stunts us and makes us less than we are and were born to be.
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When we see others beginning to live their authentic selves, it drives us crazy if we have not lived out our own.
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Don’t cheat the world of your contribution. Give it what you’ve got.
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The Spartans say that any army may win while it still has legs under it; the real test comes when all strength is fled and the men must produce victory on will alone.
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The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.
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The more fear we feel about a specific enterprise, the more certain we can be that that enterprise is important to us and to the growth of our soul.
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Resistance is greatest just before the finish line.
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