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

Steven Pressfield

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.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Artist Believe Fear Freedom Professional Warrior Work
Courage is inseparable from love and leads to what may arguably be the noblest of all warrior virtues: selflessness.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Argue Courage Separate Virtue Warrior
A child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. It’s only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hearts, who doubt and overthink and hesitate.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Believe Big Children Doubt Heart Hesitation Mad Man Myself Thinking Trouble
Long-term, we must begin to build our internal strengths. It isn’t just skills like computer technology. It’s the old-fashioned basics of self-reliance, self-motivation, self-reinforcement, self-discipline, self-command.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Basic Build Computer Discipline Motivational Strength Technology
A cavalryman’s horse should be smarter than he is. But the horse must never be allowed to know this.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Animal Home Man Smart
The opposite of fear is love – love of the challenge, love of the work, the pure joyous passion to take a shot at our dream and see if we can pull it off.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Challenge Dreams Fear Joy Love Ourselves Passion See Work
The best and only thing that one artist can do for another is to serve as an example and an inspiration.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Artist Best Inspirational Service
Resistance by definition is self-sabotage.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Definition Destruction Myself Resistance
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.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Deep Hesitation Man Myself Need Philosophy World
Never forget: This very moment, we can change our lives. There never was a moment, and never will be, when we are without the power to alter our destiny.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Change Destiny Forget Live Moments Ourselves Power
If you were meant to cure cancer or write a symphony or crack cold fusion and you don’t do it, you not only hurt yourself, even destroy yourself. You hurt your children. You hurt me. You hurt the planet.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Cure Destroy Fusion Hurt Planet Symphony Writing Yourself
Figure out what scares you the most and do that first.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Act Brave Fear Inspirational Scare Yourself
It’s one thing to lie to ourselves. It’s another thing to believe it.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Believe Lying Ourselves
Be too dumb to quit and too stubborn to back off.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Attitude Inspirational Quit Stubborn Success
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.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Attitude Day Game Mindset Night Play Production Professional
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.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Imagination Job Life Ourselves Philosophy Time
Fear doesn’t go away. The warrior and the artist live by the same code of necessity, which dictates that the battle must be fought anew every day.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Artist Battle Code Day Fear Live Necessary Warrior
Every sun casts a shadow, and genius’s shadow is Resistance.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Genius Resistance Shadow Sun
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.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Day Force Mystery Purpose Start
The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Confidence Death Reality Scare Wild
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.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Art Better Division Life Myself War Writing
Seeking support from friends and and family is like having people gathered around at your deathbed. It’s nice, but when the ship sails, all they can do is stand on the dock waving goodbye.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Bed Death Family Friendship Goodbye People Seek Support
The critic hates most that which he would have done himself if he had had the guts.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Action Brave Criticism Hate Himself
The Principle of Priority states (a) you must know the difference between what is urgent and what is important, and (b) you must do what’s important first.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Difference Important Principle Urgent Yourself
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.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Act Attention Cheating Contribution Creativity Yourself
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.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Amateur Glory Hereslf Mystery Occupation Professional Talk Work
Research can become Resistance. We want to work, not prepare to work.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Preparation Research Resistance Work

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

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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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