Artist Quotes by Steven Pressfield

On the artist's journey we are redefining and reconfiguring ourselves and our lives.

— Steven Pressfield

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

— Steven Pressfield

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

— Steven Pressfield

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

— 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 only items you get to keep are love for the work, will to finish, and passion to serve the ethical, creative…

— Steven Pressfield

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

— Steven Pressfield

“The artist must be like that Marine. He has to know how to be miserable. He has to love being miserable.”

— Steven Pressfield

The instinct that pulls us toward art is the impulse to evolve, to learn, to heighten and elevate our consciousness. The Ego…

— Steven Pressfield

“Remember, as artists we don't know diddly. We're winging it every day. For us to try to second-guess our Muse the way…

— Steven Pressfield

“The artist and the fundamentalist both confront the same issue, the mystery of their existence as individuals. Each asks the same questions:…

— Steven Pressfield

Fear doesn't go away. The warrior and the artist live by the same code of necessity, which dictates that the battle must…

— Steven Pressfield

The professional will not tolerate disorder... He wants the carpet vacuumed and the threshold swept, so the Muse may enter and not…

— Steven Pressfield

“When inspiration touches talent, she gives birth to truth and beauty. And when Steven Pressfield was writing The War of Art, she…

— Steven Pressfield

A work-in-progress generates its own energy field. You, the artist or entrepreneur, are pouring love into the work; you are suffusing it…

— Steven Pressfield

The amateur believes he must first overcome his fear; then he can do his work. The professional knows that fear can never…

— Steven Pressfield

The artist and the mother are vehicles, not originators. They don't create the new life, they only bear it. This is why…

— Steven Pressfield

Resistance in my experience always kicks in when you're trying to move from a lower level to a higher level or to…

— Steven Pressfield

Our job in this lifetime is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find…

— 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

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

“In the hierarchy, the artist faces outward. Meeting someone new he asks himself, What can this person do for me? How can…

— Steven Pressfield

The Gnostics believed that exile was the essential condition of man. Do you agree? I do. The artist and the addict both…

— 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

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

— Steven Pressfield

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

— 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

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

— 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

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

— Steven Pressfield

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

— 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

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

— 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

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

— 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

If you find yourself asking yourself (and your friends), "Am I really a writer? Am I really an artist?" chances are you…

— Steven Pressfield

Picasso painted with passion, Mozart composed with it. A child plays with it all day long. You may think you’ve lost your…

— Steven Pressfield