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 PRESSFIELDThis 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.
More Steven Pressfield Quotes
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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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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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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.
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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.
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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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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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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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The last thing we want is to remain as we are.
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It is one thing to study war and another to live the warrior’s life.
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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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When we turn pro we stop running from our fears. We turn around and face them.
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The most pernicious aspect of procrastination is that it can become a habit. We don’t just put off our lives today; we put them off till our deathbed.
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Slay that dragon once, and he will never have power over you again.
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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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Stay stupid. Follow your unconventional crazy heart.
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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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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.
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Our greatest battle is to become ourselves, in the face of adversity.
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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.
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The professional loves her work. She is invested in it wholeheartedly. But she does not forget that the work is not her.
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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 will have to choose between the life we want for our future and the life we have left behind.
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Don’t cheat the world of your contribution. Give it what you’ve got.
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We come into this world with a specific, personal destiny. We have a job to do, a calling to enact, a self to become. We are who we are from the cradle, and we’re stuck with it.
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As all born teachers, he was primarily a student.
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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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