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Steven Pressfield

Steven Pressfield Quotes

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Famous Steven Pressfield 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.”

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Book:The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
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“The Gnostics believed that exile was the essential condition of man. Do you agree? I do. The artist and the addict both wrestle with this experience of exile. They share an acute, even excruciating sensitivity to the state of separation and isolation, and both actively seek a way to overcome it, to transcend it, or at least to make the pain go away. What is the pain of being human? It's the condition of being suspended between two worlds and being unable to fully enter into either.”

MenWorldWayHumansTwoStatesPainArtistShareConditionsEssentialsOvercomingAgreeSeparationIsolationGoing AwayBeing HumanSensitivityAddictExileSuspendedTwo Worlds
Book:Turning Pro: Tap Your Inner Power and Create Your Life's Work
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“Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It's a gift to the world and every being in it. Don't cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you've got.”

WorldGivingArtArtistActorsAttentionCreativityCreativeSelfishContributionCheatBad AssCreative WorkCreative PersonArtists And CreativitySelfish Acts
Book:The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
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“We’re all pros already. 1) We show up every day 2) We show up no matter what 3) We stay on the job all day 4) We are committed over the long haul 5) The stakes for us are high and real 6) We accept remuneration for our labor 7) We do not overidentify with our jobs 8 ) We master the technique of our jobs 9) We have a sense of humor about our jobs 10) We receive praise or blame in the real world”

WorldLongRealMatterShowsJobsAcceptingMastersLaborPraiseNo Matter WhatBlameCommittedTechniqueSense Of HumorReal WorldStakesHaulLong HaulRemuneration
Author:Steven Pressfield
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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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“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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“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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