|
Steven Pressfield - From the Artists category:
Artists are modest. They know they're not doing the work; they're just taking dictation. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Attitude category:
- The War of Art...
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)
Steven Pressfield - From the Audience category:
- The War of Art...
The hack condescends to his audience. He thinks he's superior to them. The truth is, he's scared to death of them... scared of being authentic in front of them... He's afraid it won't sell. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Commitment category:
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Courage category:
The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Creativity category:
- The War of Art...
The part we create from can't be touched by anything our parents did, or society did. That part is unsullied, uncorrupted; soundproof, waterproof, and bulletproof. In fact, the more troubles we've got, the better and richer that part becomes. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Criticism category:
We cannot let external criticism, even if it's true, fortify our internal foe. That foe is strong enough already. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Critics category:
Tomorrow morning the critic will be gone, but the writer will still be there facing the blank page. Nothing matters but that he keep working. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Destiny category:
There never was a moment, and never will be, when we are without the power to alter our destiny. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Determination category:
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)
Steven Pressfield - From the Drunkenness category:
- The War of Art...
Have you ever wondered why the slang terms for intoxication are so demolition-oriented? Stoned, smashed, hammered. It's because they're talking about the Ego. It's the Ego that gets blasted, waxed, plastered. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Ego category:
- The War of Art...
The instinct that pulls us toward art is the impulse to evolve, to learn, to heighten and elevate our consciousness. The Ego hates this. Because the more awake we become, the less we need the Ego. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Fear category:
- The War of Art...
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)
Steven Pressfield - From the Genius category:
- The War of Art...
Every sun casts a shadow, and genius's shadow is Resistance. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Importance category:
Do I really believe that my work is crucial to the planet's survival? Of course not. But it's as important to me as catching that mouse is to the hawk circling outside my window. He's hungry. He needs a kill. So do I. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Importance category:
The more you love your art/ calling/ enterprise, the more important its accomplishment to the evolution of your soul, the more you will fear it and the more Resistance you will experience facing it. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Innovation category:
The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Inspiration category:
-The War of Art
The professional is acutely aware of the intangibles that go into inspiration. Out of respect for them, she lets them work. She grants them their sphere while she concentrates on hers. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Life category:
-The War of Art
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)
Steven Pressfield - From the Love category:
To labor in the arts for any reason other than love is prostitution. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Miracles category:
What force is yanking at our sleeves? This process of self-revision and self-correction is so common we don't even notice. But it's a miracle. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Money category:
Playing for money, or adopting the attitude of one who plays for money, lowers the fever. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Motivation category:
-The War of Art
Resistance cannot be seen, touched, heard, or smelled. But it can be felt. We experince it as an energy field radiating from a work-in-potential... Its aim is to shove us away, distract us, prevent us from doing our work. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Muse category:
When we sit down each day and do our work... The Muse takes note of our dedication. She approves. We have earned favor in her sight... we become like a magnetized rod that attracts iron filings. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Mysteries category:
The artist and the fundamentalist both confront the same issue, the mystery of their existence as individuals. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Mysteries category:
The sign of the amateur is overglorification of and preoccupation with the mystery. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Nature category:
Thr principle of organization is built into nature. Chaos itself is self-organizing. Out of primordial disorder, stars find their orbit; rivers make their way to the sea. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Opposites category:
The opposite of love isn't hate; it's indifference. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Order category:
-The War of Art
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. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Patience category:
-The War of Art
The professional arms himself with patience, not only to give the stars time to align in his career, but to keep himself from flaming out in each individual work. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Power category:
-The War of Art
When we sit down each day and do our work, power concentrates around us... Ideas come. Insights accrete. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Priorities category:
-The War of Art
I'm keenly aware of the Principle of Priority, which states (a) You must know the difference between what is urgent and what is important, and (b) You must do what's important first. What's important is the work. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Procrastination category:
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. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Profession category:
The professional has learned that success, like happiness, comes as a by-product of work. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Questions category:
These are not easy questions. Who am I? Why am I here? They're not easy because the human being isn't wired to function as an individual. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Recognition category:
Nothing is as empowering as real-world validation, even if it's for failure. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Rejection category:
-The War of Art
Evolution has programmed us to feel rejection in our guts. This is how the tribe inforced obedience, by wielding the threat of expulsion. Fear of rejection isn't just psychological; it's biological. It's in our cells. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Silence category:
The professional shuts up. She doesn't talk about it. She does her work. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Success category:
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. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Suffering category:
The athlete knows the day will never come when he wakes up pain-free. He has to play hurt. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Suffering category:
-The War of Art
The artist committing himself to his calling has volunteered for hell, whether he knows it or not. He will be dining for the duration on a diet of isolation, rejection, self-doubt, despair, ridicule, contempt, and humiliation. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Technique category:
-The War of Art
The professional dedicates himself to mastering technique not because he believes technique is a substitute for inspiration but because he wants to be in possession of the full arsenal of skills when inspiration does come. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Time category:
It is a commonplace among artists and children at play that they're not aware of time or solitude while they're chasing their vision. The hours fly by. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Tradition category:
-The War of Art
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. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Tyranny category:
As artists and professionals, it is our obligation to enact our own internal revolution, a private insurrection inside our own skulls. In this uprising we free ourselves from the tyranny of consumer culture. (Steven Pressfield)
Steven Pressfield - From the Work category:
We must do our work for its own sake, not for fortune or attention or applause. (Steven Pressfield)
| 
