Artist Quotes by Steven Pressfield

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

— Steven Pressfield

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

— Steven Pressfield

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

— 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

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

— 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

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

No matter how great a writer, artist, or entrepreneur, he is a mortal, he is fallible. He is not proof against Resistance.…

— Steven Pressfield

Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It's a gift to…

— 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

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

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 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

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

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

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

— 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

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

— 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

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

“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

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

— Steven Pressfield

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

— 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

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

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

— Steven Pressfield