--- title: "3 Creative work Quotes By Steven Pressfield" description: "3 Creative work quotes by Steven Pressfield. Plus more from Steven Pressfield and more Creative work sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/324/steven-pressfield-696_art_they-are-the-willing-and-skilled-instrum_460053.jpg" --- > [“They are the willing and skilled instruments of the gods and goddesses they serve. THE ARTIST'S LIFE Are you a born writer?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/they-are-the-willing-and-skilled-instruments-of-the-gods-and/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/324/steven-pressfield-696_art_they-are-the-willing-and-skilled-instrum_460053.jpg) > [Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It's a gift to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/creative-work-is-not-a-selfish-act-or-a-bid-for-attention-on-the-part-2/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33b/steven-pressfield-696_actors_creative-work-is-not-a-selfish-act-or-a_854295.jpg) > [“Are you a born writer? Were you put on earth to be a painter, a scientist, an apostle of peace? In the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/are-you-a-born-writer-were-you-put-on-earth-to-be-a-painter-a/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ec/steven-pressfield-696_art_are-you-a-born-writer-were-you-put-on-ea_2838278.jpg) ## Other authors on Creative work - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b016/author-ludwig-mies-van-der-rohe-61867.jpg) Ludwig Mies van der Rohe 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative-work/ludwig-mies-van-der-rohe/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b015/author-lawrence-lessig-59097.jpg) Lawrence Lessig 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative-work/lawrence-lessig/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b012/author-ira-glass-44501.jpg) Ira Glass 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative-work/ira-glass/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b004/author-ayn-rand-15943.jpg) Ayn Rand 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative-work/ayn-rand/) ## More by Steven Pressfield > [Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/most-of-us-have-two-lives-the-life-we-live-and-the-unlived-life/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [“The artist and the fundamentalist both confront the same issue, the mystery of their existence as individuals. Each asks the same questions: Who am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/the-artist-and-the-fundamentalist-both-confront-the-same-issue-the/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [The professional arms himself with patience, not only to give the stars time to align in his career, but to keep himself from flaming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/the-professional-arms-himself-with-patience-not-only-to-give-the/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [The Kabbalah describes angels as bundles of light, meaning intelligence, consciousness. Kabbalists believe that above every blade of grass is an angel crying "Grow!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/the-kabbalah-describes-angels-as-bundles-of-light-meaning/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [There is an enemy. There is an intelligent, active, malign force working against us. Step one is to recognize this. This recognition alone is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/there-is-an-enemy-there-is-an-intelligent-active-malign-force-working/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [To labor in the arts for any reason other than love is prostitution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/to-labor-in-the-arts-for-any-reason-other-than-love-is-prostitution/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [“that of dealing death, of loosing another man’s soul and sending it down to hell. You want to savor it, to twist the blade…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/that-of-dealing-death-of-loosing-another-man-s-soul-and-sending-it/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [“Resistance is experienced as fear; the degree of fear equates to the strength of Resistance. Therefore the more fear we feel about a specific…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/resistance-is-experienced-as-fear-the-degree-of-fear-equates-to-the/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [When we sit down each day and do our work, power concentrates around us... Ideas come. Insights accrete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/when-we-sit-down-each-day-and-do-our-work-power-concentrates-around/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [Anything that draws attention to ourselves through pain-free or artificial means is a manifestation of Resistance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/anything-that-draws-attention-to-ourselves-through-pain-free-or/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [The Gnostics believed that exile was the essential condition of man. Do you agree? I do. The artist and the addict both wrestle with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/the-gnostics-believed-that-exile-was-the-essential-condition-of-man/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [“Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: The soul that rises with us, our life's star, Hath had elsewhere its setting, And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/our-birth-is-but-a-sleep-and-a-forgetting-the-soul-that-rises-with-us/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [You are a writer when you tell yourself you are. No one else's opinion matters. Screw them. You are when you say you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/you-are-a-writer-when-you-tell-yourself-you-are-no-one-else-s-opinion/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [“Resistance outwits the amateur with the oldest trick in the book: It uses his own enthusiasm against him. Resistance gets us to plunge into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/resistance-outwits-the-amateur-with-the-oldest-trick-in-the-book-it/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [“I don't need to read nothing,' said the New Zealander. 'I was there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/i-don-t-need-to-read-nothing-said-the-new-zealander-i-was-there/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative-work/steven-pressfield/#itemlist", "name": "3 Creative work Quotes By Steven Pressfield", "numberOfItems": 3, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“They are the willing and skilled instruments of the gods and goddesses they serve. THE ARTIST'S LIFE Are you a born writer? 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