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Steven Pressfield

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Famous Steven Pressfield Quotes

“The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying. Why is this important? Because when we sit down day after day and keep grinding, something mysterious starts to happen. A process is set in motion by which, inevitably and infallibly, heaven comes to our aid. Unseen forces enlist in our cause; serendipity reinforces our purpose.”

TryingArtImportantMatterHappensPurposeForceHeavenCausesProcessArt IsSittingImportant ThingsAidsMysteriousUnseenSitting DownSerendipityUnseen Forces
Book:The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
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“I believe in previous lives and the Muse—and that books and music exist before they are written and that they are propelled into material being by their own imperative to be born, via the offices of those willing servants of discipline, imagination and inspiration whom we call artists.”

BelieveBookInspirationArtistI BelieveBornImaginationWrittenWillingMaterialsDisciplineOfficeI Believe InServantMuseImperativesPrevious LifeBooks And Music
Author:Steven Pressfield
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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. If we were born to paint, it’s our job to become a painter. If we were born to raise and nurture children, it’s our job to become a mother. If we were born to overthrow the order of ignorance and injustice of the world, it’s our job to realize it and get down to business.”

IfsWorldChildrenJobsMotherOrderRealizingBornDestinyImagineIgnoranceOughtShapesIdealsRaisesLifetimePaintInjusticePainterNurtureYour DestinyMy Destiny
Author:Steven Pressfield
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“If you were meant to cure cancer 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. You shame the angels who watch over you and you spite God Almighty, who created you and only you with your unique gifts, for the sole purpose of nudging the human race one millimeter further along its path back to God.”

IfsHumansChildrenPurposeHurtRaceWatchesPathPlanetsColdUniqueAngelShameOur ChildrenCancerCuresYour ChildrenHuman RaceSpiteOver YouCracksSoleAlmightyHurt MeFusionUnique GiftsYou Hurt Me
Author:Steven Pressfield
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“When we are succeeding - that is, when we have begun to overcome our self-doubt and self-sabotage, when we are advancing in our craft and evolving to a higher level - that's when panic strikes. When we experience panic, it means that we're about to cross a threshold. We're poised on the doorstep of a higher plane.”

MeanSelfLevelsDoubtHigherSucceedCrossesOvercomingStrikesCraftsEvolvePlanesPanicThresholdAdvancingHigher LevelSabotageSelf-doubtDoorstepSelf Sabotage
Author:Steven Pressfield
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“Sometimes, when we're terrified of embracing our true calling, we'll pursue a shadow calling instead. That shadow career is a metaphor for our real career. Its shape is similar, its contours feel tantalizingly the same. But a shadow career entails no real risk. If we fail at a shadow career, the consequences are meaningless to us. Are you pursuing a shadow career?”

IfsFeelsRealSometimesCareersFailingRiskCallingShapesShadowConsequenceMetaphorPursueMeaninglessTerrified
Author:Steven Pressfield
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“Late at night have you experienced a vision of the person you might become, the work you could accomplish, the realized being you were meant to be? Are you a writer who doesn't write, a painter who doesn't paint, an entrepreneur who never starts a venture? Then you know what Resistance is.”

KnowsWritingPersonsMightNightVisionLateEntrepreneurPaintAccomplishResistancePainterMeant To BeVentureWere Meant To Be
Book:The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
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“It may be that the human race is not ready for freedom. The air of liberty may be too rarefied for us to breathe... The paradox seems to be, as Socrates demonstrated long ago, that the truly free individual is free only to the extent of his own self-mastery. While those who will not govern themselves are condemned to find masters to govern over them.”

HumansMayLongSelfSeemsIndividualRaceLibertyAirReadyMastersBreatheHuman RaceParadoxMasteryLong AgoSelf MasteryNot Ready
Book:The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
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“You know, Hitler wanted to be an artist. At eighteen he took his inheritance, seven hundred kronen, and moved to Vienna to live and study... Ever see one of his paintings? Neither have I. Resistance beat him. Call it overstatement but I'll say it anyway: it was easier for Hitler to start World War II than it was for him to face a blank square of canvas.”

KnowsWorldWarWantedFacesArtistStudyPaintingEasierBeatsHundredMovedSevenResistanceWar Of The WorldsSquaresWorld War IiWorld War IBlankCanvasInheritanceEighteenViennaOverstatement
Book:The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
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“Look in your own heart. Unless I'm crazy, right now a still small voice is piping up, telling you as it has ten thousand times, the calling that is yours and yours alone. You know it. No one has to tell you. And unless I'm crazy, you're no closer to taking action on it than you were yesterday or will be tomorrow. You think Resistance isn't real? Resistance will bury you.”

ThinkingKnowsLooksHeartStillsRealMotivationalActionVoiceCrazyTomorrowCallingRight NowThousandTenYesterdayResistanceTaking ActionSmall Voice
Book:The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
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