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Steven Pressfield

Steven Pressfield Quotes

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Famous Steven Pressfield Quotes

“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. 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. This second we can turn the tables on Resistance. This second, we can sit down and do our work.”

MomentsMotivationalTodayTurnsForgetDestinyOur LivesHabitAspectDown AndTablesResistanceNever ForgetProcrastinationOur DestinyLive For TodayDeathbedPernicious
Book:The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
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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.”

IfsWritingChildrenHurtPlanetsColdOur ChildrenCancerCuresYour ChildrenCracksSymphonyHurt MeFusionYou Hurt Me
Book:The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
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“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.”

KnowsSelfArtistHellDoubtCallingDespairDietsRejectionIsolationContemptHumiliationRidiculeDurationDiningSelf-doubt
Book:The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
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“Our enemy is not lack of preparation; it’s not the difficulty of the project or the state of the marketplace or the emptiness of our bank account. The enemy is our chattering brain, which, if we give it so much as a nanosecond, will start producing excuses, alibis, transparent self-justifications and a million reasons why we can’t/shouldn’t/won’t do what we know we need to do.”

IfsKnowsNeedsGivingSelfStatesReasonBrainEnemyMillionsProjectsAccountsDifficultyExcusePreparationReason WhyEmptinessJustificationTransparentMarketplaceBank AccountsSelf JustificationAlibis
Author:Steven Pressfield
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“Ambition, I have come to believe, is the most primal and sacred and fundament of our being. To feel ambition and to act upon it is to embrace the unique calling of our souls. Not to act upon that ambition is to turn our backs on ourselves and on the reason for our existence.”

FeelsBelieveSoulReasonTurnsExistenceCallingAmbitionUniqueSacredEmbracePrimal
Book:Turning Pro: Tap Your Inner Power and Create Your Life's Work
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“That’s why an artist must be a warrior and, like all warriors, artists over time acquire modesty and humility. They may, some of them, conduct themselves flamboyantly in public. But alone with the work they are chaste and humble. They know they are not the source of the creations they bring into being. They only facilitate. They carry. They are the willing and skilled instruments of the gods and goddesses they serve.”

KnowsMayArtistCreationHumilityWillingSourceInstrumentsHumbleWarriorAcquireGoddessModestyFacilitateChasteGods And Goddesses
Book:The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
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“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. The professional is sly. He knows that by toiling beside the front door of technique, he leaves room for genius to enter by the back.”

KnowsWantBelieveDoeInspirationRoomsDoorsFrontsGeniusSkillsPossessionTechniqueSubstitutesArsenalFront DoorsSlyToiling
Book:The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
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“Like a magnetized needle floating on a surface of oil, Resistance will unfailingly point to true North--meaning that calling or action it most wants to stop us from doing. We can use this. We can use it as a compass. We can navigate by Resistance, letting it guide us to that calling or action that we must follow before all others. Rule of thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul's evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.”

WantFeelsImportantSoulUseActionEvolutionCallingSurfaceOilGuidesResistanceFloatingCompassThumbsNeedlesNavigateTrue North
Book:Do the Work!: Overcome Resistance and get ouf of your own way
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“The professional conducts his business in the real world. Adversity, injustice, bad hops and rotten calls, even good breaks and lucky bounces all comprise the ground over which the campaign must be waged. The field is level, the professional understands, only in heaven.”

WorldRealHeavenLevelsBreakFieldsLuckyAdversityInjusticeCampaignsHopsReal WorldRottenBounce
Book:The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
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“Resistance is directly proportional to love. If you’re feeling massive Resistance, the good news is, it means there’s tremendous love there too. If you didn’t love the project that is terrifying you, you wouldn’t feel anything. The opposite of love isn’t hate; it’s indifference.”

IfsFeelsMeanFeelingsHateLove IsProjectsNewsOppositesResistanceIndifferenceMassiveGood News
Book:The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
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“The artist must be like that Marine. He has to know how to be miserable. He has to love being miserable. He has to take pride in being more miserable than any soldier or swabbie or jet jockey. Because this is war, baby. And war is hell.”

KnowsWarArtistLove IsKnow HowHellPrideBabySoldierMiserableMarineJetJockeys
Book:The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
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