Art Quotes by Steven Pressfield

“Fundamentalism and art are mutually exclusive. There is no such thing as fundamentalist art.”

— Steven Pressfield

Artists are modest. They know they're not doing the work; they're just taking dictation.

— Steven Pressfield

To labor in the arts for any reason other than love is prostitution.

— Steven Pressfield

The best and only thing that one artist can do for another is to serve as an example and an inspiration.

— Steven Pressfield

“The artist committing himself to his calling has volunteered for hell whether he knows it or not.”

— Steven Pressfield

Every artist has to face his own demons and evolve his own method of working.

— Steven Pressfield

A writer writes with his genius; an artist paints with hers; everyone who creates operates from this sacramental center.

— Steven Pressfield

“Here's another test. Of any activity you do, aks yourself: If I were the last person on earth, would I still do…

— Steven Pressfield

“The more resistance you experience, the more important your unmanifested art/project/enterprise is to you - and the more gratification you will fell…

— Steven Pressfield

As artists and professionals, it is our obligation to enact our own internal revolution, a private insurrection inside our own skulls. In…

— Steven Pressfield

Ignorance and arrogance are the artist's and entrepreneur's indispensable allies. She must be clueless enough to have no idea how difficult her…

— Steven Pressfield

The artist cannot look to others to validate his efforts or his calling. If you don't believe me, ask Van Gogh, who…

— Steven Pressfield

I guess what I want to say to us artists and entrepreneurs is that conventional yardsticks of success don't apply to all…

— Steven Pressfield

The artist committing himself to his calling has volunteered for hell, whether he knows it or not. He will be dining for…

— Steven Pressfield

“The drawing is also a reminder that there’s an artist within each of us, and we must encourage that artist to do…

— Steven Pressfield

It is a commonplace among artists and children at play that they're not aware of time or solitude while they're chasing their…

— Steven Pressfield

The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying. Why is this…

— Steven Pressfield

You know, Hitler wanted to be an artist. At eighteen he took his inheritance, seven hundred kronen, and moved to Vienna to…

— Steven Pressfield

“Lat at nigh have you experienced a vision of the person you might become, the work you could accomplish, the realized being…

— Steven Pressfield

“The amateur has not mastered the technique of his art. Nor does he expose himself to judgment in the real world. If…

— Steven Pressfield

This is the other secret that real artists know and wannabe writers don’t. When we sit down each day and do our…

— Steven Pressfield

“Self-doubt can be an ally. This is because it serves as an indicator of aspiration. It reflects love, love of something we…

— Steven Pressfield

Artists, writers and people in creative fields are entrepreneurs by necessity. Nobody gives them a paycheck or picks up their medical insurance.…

— Steven Pressfield

That’s why an artist must be a warrior and, like all warriors, artists over time acquire modesty and humility. They may, some…

— Steven Pressfield

“Are you a born writer? Were you put on earth to be a painter, a scientist, an apostle of peace? In the…

— Steven Pressfield

“They are the willing and skilled instruments of the gods and goddesses they serve. THE ARTIST'S LIFE Are you a born writer?…

— Steven Pressfield

“O Divine Poesy, goddess, daughter of Zeus, sustain for me this song of the various-minded man who, after he had plundered the…

— Steven Pressfield

“I wouldn’t say “art” as much as “virtue,” in the ancient Greek sense of “andreia” – manly action – or “arete,” excellence.…

— Steven Pressfield

“. . . None of us are born as passive generic blobs waiting for the world to stamp its imprint on us.…

— Steven Pressfield

“The artist and the fundamentalist arise from societies at differing stages of development. The artist is the advanced model. His culture possesses…

— Steven Pressfield

“We experience [procrastination] as fear. But fear of what? Fear of the consequences of following our heart. Fear of bankruptcy, fear of…

— Steven Pressfield

I wrote in the War of Art that I could divide my life neatly into two parts: before turning pro and after.…

— Steven Pressfield

“The working artist will not tolerate trouble in her life because she knows trouble prevents her from doing her work.”

— Steven Pressfield

The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.

— Steven Pressfield

The awakening an artist must be ruthless, not only with herself but with others.

— Steven Pressfield

Art is a war - between ourselves and the forces of self-sabotage that would stop us from doing our work. The artist…

— Steven Pressfield

“The artist committing himself to his calling has volunteered for hell.”

— Steven Pressfield

...she (the artist, the writer) doesn't wait for inspiration, she acts in the anticipation of its apparition.

— Steven Pressfield

The artist and the fundamentalist both confront the same issue, the mystery of their existence as individuals.

— Steven Pressfield

“You become an artist once you start saying that you are an artist”

— Steven Pressfield