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 PRESSFIELDThe 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.
More Steven Pressfield Quotes
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Our greatest battle is to become ourselves, in the face of adversity.
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Don’t cheat the world of your contribution. Give it what you’ve got.
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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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Every sun casts a shadow, and genius’s shadow is Resistance.
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Courage is inseparable from love and leads to what may arguably be the noblest of all warrior virtues: selflessness.
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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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We will have to choose between the life we want for our future and the life we have left behind.
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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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Defeating Resistance is like giving birth. It seems absolutely impossible until you remember that women have been pulling it off successfully, with support and without, for fifty million years.
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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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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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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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Those who will not govern themselves are condemned to find masters to govern over them.
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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 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 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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Put your ass where your heart wants to be.
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Slay that dragon once, and he will never have power over you again.
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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 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.
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It is one thing to study war and another to live the warrior’s life.
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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 professional does not wait for inspiration; he acts in anticipation of it.
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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.
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The professional respects his craft. He does not consider himself superior to it. He recognizes the contributions of those who have gone before him. He apprentices himself to them.
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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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