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The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles

Book by Steven Pressfield · 14 quotes · Resistance, Artist, Knows

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The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles Quotes

“The working artist will not tolerate trouble in her life because she knows trouble prevents her from doing her work. The working artist banishes from her world all sources of trouble. She harnesses the urge for trouble and transforms it in her work.”

KnowsWorldArtistTroubleSourceUrgesTolerateHarness
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“This is the other secret that real artists know and wannabe writers don’t. When we sit down each day and do our work, power concentrates around us. The Muse takes note of our dedication. She approves. We have earned favor in her sight. When we sit down and work, we become like a magnetized rod that attracts iron filings. Ideas come. Insights accrete.”

KnowsIdeasRealArtistSecretSightDown AndNotesInsightFavorsEach DayIronDedicationMuseFilingReal ArtistsWannabes
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“We fear discovering that we are more than we think we are. More than our parents/children/teachers think we are. We fear that we actually possess the talent that our still, small voice tells us. That we actually have the guts, the perseverance, the capacity. We fear that we truly can steer our ship, plant our flag, reach our Promised Land. We fear this because, if it’s true, then we become estranged from all we know. We pass through a membrane. We become monsters and monstrous.”

IfsThinkingKnowsChildrenStillsFearParentVoiceTeacherLandTalentCapacityPlantPerseveranceMonstersShipsGutsFlagsDiscoveringMonstrousSteersPromised LandParent ChildSmall VoiceMembranes
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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