Steven Pressfield

The opposite of fear is love - love of the challenge, love of the work, the pure joyous passion to take a…

— Steven Pressfield

“Better to be in the arena getting stomped by the bulls, than to be up in the stands or out in the…

— Steven Pressfield

“Our guns do not strip the foe of life with surgical strokes. They take them in a holocaust.”

— Steven Pressfield

“Tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie.”

— Steven Pressfield

Resistance is not a peripheral opponent. Resistance arises from within. It is self-generated and self-perpetuated. resistance is the enemy within.

— Steven Pressfield

Long-term, we must begin to build our internal strengths. It isn't just skills like computer technology. It's the old-fashioned basics of self-reliance,…

— Steven Pressfield

“My wish for you, Kallistos, is that you survive as many battles in the flesh as you have already fought in your…

— Steven Pressfield

Resistance is directly proportional to love. If you’re feeling massive Resistance, the good news is, it means there’s tremendous love there too.…

— Steven Pressfield

Making a judgment, taking a stand and then acting against an injustice or acting to support excellence is the stuff of the…

— Steven Pressfield

No industry is immune and no occupation is safe. All of us need to begin to think in terms of our own…

— Steven Pressfield

“If we show our poem to our friend and our friend says, "It's wonderful, I love it," that's not real-world feedback, that's…

— Steven Pressfield

The more you love your art/ calling/ enterprise, the more important its accomplishment to the evolution of your soul, the more you…

— Steven Pressfield

Resistance really takes the shape, for me, in voices in my head telling me why I can't do something or why I…

— Steven Pressfield

“Never forget, Alexandros, that this flesh, this body, does not belong to us. Thank God it doesn’t. If I thought this stuff…

— Steven Pressfield

“When we're living as amateurs, we're running away from our calling — meaning our work, our destiny, the obligation to become our…

— 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

“When a man seats before his eyes the bronze face of his helmet and steps off from the line of departure, he…

— Steven Pressfield

“I'm keenly aware of the Principle of Priority, which states (a) you must know the difference between what is urgent and what…

— Steven Pressfield

The professional has learned that success, like happiness, comes as a by-product of work. The professional concentrates on the work and allows…

— Steven Pressfield

“I was thirty years old before I had an actual thought. Everything up till then was either what Buddhists call “monkey-mind” chatter…

— Steven Pressfield

“The paradox seems to be, as Socrates demonstrated long ago, that the truly free individual is free only to the extent of…

— Steven Pressfield

It can pay off, being a hack. Given the depraved state of American culture, a slick dude can make millions being a…

— Steven Pressfield

Do I really believe that my work is crucial to the planet's survival? Of course not. But it's as important to me…

— Steven Pressfield

When we are succeeding - that is, when we have begun to overcome our self-doubt and self-sabotage, when we are advancing in…

— Steven Pressfield

The more important a call to action is to our soul's evolution, the more Resistance we will feel about answering it. But…

— Steven Pressfield

We fear discovering that we are more than we think we are... That we actually have the guts, the perserverance, the capacity...…

— Steven Pressfield

I believe in previous lives and the Muse—and that books and music exist before they are written and that they are propelled…

— 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

“Because when we sit down day after day and keep grinding, something mysterious starts to happen. A process is set into motion…

— Steven Pressfield

“In an odd way,” he says, “your making a hash of this has brought you into the club. We’ve all committed our…

— Steven Pressfield

Always attack. Even in defense, attack. The attacking arm possesses the initiative and thus commands the action. To attack makes men brave;…

— Steven Pressfield

If you want to send a manuscript, send it to an agent. And send a letter first, asking permission. Launch it into…

— Steven Pressfield

“The role of the officer, in my experience, is nothing grander than to stand sentinel over himself and his men, towards the…

— Steven Pressfield

The professional respects his craft. He does not consider himself superior to it. He recognizes the contributions of those who have gone…

— Steven Pressfield

“Improvisation is not a wild scramble at the last minute. You are not pulling plans out of thin air. Improvisation is the…

— Steven Pressfield

“At the beginning, the author's writing was like a selfie: a disposable plea for attention that was all about him and his…

— Steven Pressfield

When we make our art a practice, when we make our workspace sacred and enter it daily with respect and high intention,…

— Steven Pressfield

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

— Steven Pressfield

The professional tackles the project that will make him stretch. He takes on the assignment that will bear him into uncharted waters,…

— Steven Pressfield

Thr principle of organization is built into nature. Chaos itself is self-organizing. Out of primordial disorder, stars find their orbit; rivers make…

— Steven Pressfield