--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Resistance in my experience always kicks…" description: "\"Resistance in my experience always kicks in when you're trying to move from a lower level to a higher level or to identify with a braver part of yourse..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/592/steven-pressfield-696_artist_resistance-in-my-experience-always-kicks_1943228.jpg" --- # Resistance in my experience always kicks in when you're… ![“Resistance in my experience always kicks in when you're trying to move from a lower level to a higher level or to identify with a braver part of yourself or your higher nature. So it's that negative repelling force. It's kind of the dragon that we have to slay every day if we're artists or…” quote by Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/592/steven-pressfield-696_artist_resistance-in-my-experience-always-kicks_1943228.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/592/steven-pressfield-696_artist_resistance-in-my-experience-always-kicks_1943228.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/592/steven-pressfield-696_artist_resistance-in-my-experience-always-kicks_1943228.jpg) > “Resistance in my experience always kicks in when you're trying to move from a lower level to a higher level or to identify with a braver part of yourself or your higher nature. So it's that negative repelling force. It's kind of the dragon that we have to slay every day if we're artists or entrepreneurs.” [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Resistance appears when we try to ascend or embody a braver self, acting like a daily dragon to slay for creators and entrepreneurs. **In simple terms:** Resistance blocks growth and self‑elevation. Key Takeaway Recognize and confront inner resistance. Themes growth creativity self‑development Mood determined reflective Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - entrepreneurship - artistic practice - personal transformation Key Concepts psychology inner conflict motivation Questions to Reflect On - What inner dragon are you fighting today? - How can you turn resistance into fuel? A Different Perspective Resistance can be overwhelming and may cause paralysis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Dragons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dragons/) [Entrepreneur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entrepreneur/) [Every day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/every-day/) [Force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/force/) [Higher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/higher/) [Higher level](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/higher-level/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Kicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kicks/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Levels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/levels/) [Moving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Negative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/negative/) [Negative Repelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/negative-repelling-3109742/) [Repelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repelling/) [Repelling Force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repelling-force-2456287/) [Resistance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resistance/) [Resistance Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resistance-experience-1641769/) [Revolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolution/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) ## Related quotes > [“Resistance is a repelling force. It’s negative. Its aim is to shove us away, distract us, prevent us from doing our work.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/resistance-is-a-repelling-force-it-s-negative-its-aim-is-to-shove-us/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [The more you love your art/ calling/ enterprise, the more important its accomplishment to the evolution of your soul, the more you will fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/the-more-you-love-your-art-calling-enterprise-the-more-important-its/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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 when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/the-more-resistance-you-experience-the-more-important-your/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [I say to myself, go on seeking, be glad for being sensitive, be glad you're able to go beyond the resistance inside you. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-say-to-myself-go-on-seeking-be-glad-for-being-sensitive-be-glad-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When we are succeeding - that is, when we have begun to overcome our self-doubt and self-sabotage, when we are advancing in our craft…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/when-we-are-succeeding-that-is-when-we-have-begun-to-overcome-our/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [In proportion as the people are accustomed to manage their affairs by their own active intervention, instead of leaving them to the government, their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/in-proportion-as-the-people-are-accustomed-to-manage-their-affairs-by/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [Anyone can leave the body and do astral traveling, but they have to believe that ' they can do ' this. It is quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lobsang-rampa/anyone-can-leave-the-body-and-do-astral-traveling-but-they-have-to/) [Lobsang Rampa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lobsang-rampa/) > [Snobbery might sometimes look cool, like smoking, but the end result is usually a repelling one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trent-zelazny/snobbery-might-sometimes-look-cool-like-smoking-but-the-end-result-is/) [Trent Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trent-zelazny/) > [So long as a man-of-war exists, it must ever remain a picture of much that is tyrannical and repelling in human nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/so-long-as-a-man-of-war-exists-it-must-ever-remain-a-picture-of-much/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [The student should bear in mind that the very essence of consciousness is constantly to identify itself with the Not-Self, and as constantly to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-e-powell/the-student-should-bear-in-mind-that-the-very-essence-of/) [Arthur E. Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-e-powell/) > [My blog is not about repelling men, it's about good fashion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leandra-medine/my-blog-is-not-about-repelling-men-it-s-about-good-fashion/) [Leandra Medine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leandra-medine/) > [Is there any wilderness of sand in the deserts of Arabia, is there any prospect of desolation among the ruins of Palestine, which can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilkie-collins/is-there-any-wilderness-of-sand-in-the-deserts-of-arabia-is-there-any/) [Wilkie Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilkie-collins/) > [Courage is worthy of respect when displayed in the maintenance of legitimate claims and in the repelling of aggressions, bodily or other. Courage is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/courage-is-worthy-of-respect-when-displayed-in-the-maintenance-of/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [I'm really happy that people understand that man-repelling is a good thing. I was afraid people would think I was mocking fashion, and it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leandra-medine/i-m-really-happy-that-people-understand-that-man-repelling-is-a-good/) [Leandra Medine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leandra-medine/) > [Shame is the raincoat over the soul repelling the living water of Jesus that would otherwise establish us as the beloved of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-comiskey/shame-is-the-raincoat-over-the-soul-repelling-the-living-water-of/) [Andrew Comiskey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-comiskey/) ## 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/) [Explore all 404 Steven Pressfield quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) ## More Artist quotes > [One is a painter because one wants so-called freedom; one doesn't want to go to the office every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/one-is-a-painter-because-one-wants-so-called-freedom-one-doesn-t-want/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [“People in coats and ties were milling around the Talley gallery, and on the wall were the minimally rendered still lifes by Giorgio Morandi,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/people-in-coats-and-ties-were-milling-around-the-talley-gallery-and/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [From as long as I can remember, I was always fond of drawing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-lucia/from-as-long-as-i-can-remember-i-was-always-fond-of-drawing/) [St. Lucia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-lucia/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. 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I can't fix a car, sew, knit, cook, etc. Statistically, there is more I don't do than do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-am-a-horrible-visual-artist-i-can-t-fix-a-car-sew-knit-cook-etc/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) [Browse all 32,600 Artist quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Resistance in my experience always kicks in when you're trying to move from a lower level to a higher level or to identify with a braver part of yourself or your higher nature. So it's that negative repelling force. 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