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94590e1
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For what can be more noble than to slay oneself? Not literally. Not with a blade in the guts. But to extinguish the selfish self within, that part which looks only to its own preservation, to save its own skin. That, I saw, was the victory you Spartans had gained over yourselves. That was the glue. It was what you had learned and it made me stay, to learn it too.
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Steven Pressfield |
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44a032f
|
The opposite of fear," Dienekes said, "is love."
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Steven Pressfield |
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33b2cb4
|
The artist and the mother are vehicles, not originators. They don't create the new life, they only bear it. This is why birth is such a humbling experience. The new mom weeps in awe at the little miracle in her arms. She knows it came out of her but not from her, through her but not of her.
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motherhood
writing
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Steven Pressfield |
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9c0a984
|
At least twice a week, I pause in the rush of work and have a meeting with myself. (If I were part of a team, I'd call a team meeting.) I ask myself, again, of the project: "What is this damn thing about?" Keep refining your understanding of the theme; keep narrowing it down."
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Steven Pressfield |
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017d678
|
The amateur believes he must first overcome his fear; then he can do his work. The professional knows that fear can never be overcome.
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Steven Pressfield |
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e84997e
|
He who whets his steel, whets his courage
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military
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Steven Pressfield |
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05dbe97
|
Always attack. Even in defense, attack. The attacking arm possesses the initiative and thus commands the action. To attack makes men brave; to defend makes them timorous.
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moving-forward
progress
war
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Steven Pressfield |
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2eeea06
|
It's not the writing part that's hard. What's hard is sitting down to write. What keeps us from sitting down is Resistance.
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write
writing
writing-life
writing-process
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Steven Pressfield |
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0a24e45
|
War, not peace, produces virtue. War, not peace, purges vice. War, and preparation for war, call forth all that is noble and honorable in a man. It unites him with his brothers and binds them in selfless love, eradicating in the crucible of necessity all which is base and ignoble. There in the holy mill of murder the meanest of men may seek and find that part of himself, concealed beneath the corrupt, which shines forth brilliant and virtuo..
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virtue
war
warrior
warrior-ethos
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Steven Pressfield |
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9a707e9
|
Persian envoy "our arrows will black out the sun..." Dienekes of the Spartans.."Good, then we'll fight in the shade."
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Steven Pressfield |
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94f8afe
|
This, I realized now watching Dienekes rally and tend to his men, was the role of the officer: to prevent those under this command, at all stages of battle--before, during and after--from becoming "possessed." To fire their valor when it flagged and rein in their fury when it threatened to take them out of hand. That was Dienekes' job. That was why he wore the transverse-crested helmet of an officer. His was not, I could see now, the herois..
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officership
warrior
warrior-ethos
|
Steven Pressfield |
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a16ee7d
|
As all born teachers, he was primarily a student.
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Steven Pressfield |
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d17ff8e
|
Resistance is not a peripheral opponent. Resistance arises from within. It is self-generated and self-perpetuated. resistance is the enemy within.
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resistance
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Steven Pressfield |
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6ccab5c
|
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 finally do it.
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gratification
resistance
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Steven Pressfield |
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dfc610c
|
The sure sign of an amateur is he has a million plans and they all start tomorrow.
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Steven Pressfield |
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aec0245
|
I'm keenly aware of the Principle of Priority, which states (a) you must know the difference between what is urgent and what is important, and (b) you must do what's important first.
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principle-of-priority
priorities
urgent
|
Steven Pressfield |
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566eb71
|
The best and only thing that one artist can do for another is to serve as an example and an inspiration.
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inspiration
motivation
writing
|
Steven Pressfield |
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445b629
|
What finally convinced me to go ahead was simply that I was so unhappy not going ahead. I was developing symptoms. As soon as I sat down and began, I was okay.
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Steven Pressfield |
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44a081c
|
Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic, and power in it. Begin it now." -- W. H. Murray,"
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Steven Pressfield |
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cf4b7d0
|
she (the artist, the writer) doesn't wait for inspiration, she acts in the anticipation of its apparition.
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artist
inspiration
writer
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Steven Pressfield |
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0601a7b
|
Here's another test. Of any activity you do, aks yourself: If I were the last person on earth, would I still do it?
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writing
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Steven Pressfield |
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f8cd5ae
|
Habit will be your champion. When you train the mind to think one way and one way only, when you refuse to allow it to think in another, that will produce great strength in battle.
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Steven Pressfield |
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a7adc59
|
To yield to Resistance deforms our spirit. It stunts us and makes us less than we are and were born to be.
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|
meant-to-be
purpose
resistance
soul
spirit
|
Steven Pressfield |
|
0d231c3
|
In other words, any act that rejects immediate gratification in favor of long-term grown, health, or integrity. Or, expressed another way, any act that derives from our high nature instead of our lower. Any of these will elicit Resistance.
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|
drive
instant-gratification
purpose
resistance
|
Steven Pressfield |
|
9b38ad1
|
The paradox seems to be, as Socrates demonstrated long ago, that the truly free individual is free only to the extent of his own self-mastery. While those who will not govern themselves are condemned to find masters to govern over them.
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Steven Pressfield |
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0881a5e
|
The amateur dreads becoming who she really is because she fears that this new person will be judged by others as "different." The tribe will declare us "weird" or "queer" or "crazy." The tribe will reject us. Here's the truth: the tribe doesn't give a shit. There is no tribe. That gang or posse that we imagine is sustaining us by the bonds we share is in fact a conglomeration of individuals who are just as fucked up as we are and just as te..
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Steven Pressfield |
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b8f6e0e
|
The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death.
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Steven Pressfield |
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75d9ac1
|
You are the commanders, your men will look to you and act as you do. Let no officer keep to himself or his brother officers, but circulate daylong among his men. Let them see you and see you unafraid. Where there is work to do, turn your hand to it first; the men will follow. Some of you, I see, have erected tents. Strike them at once. We will all sleep as I do, in the open. Keep your men busy. If there is no work, make it up, for when sold..
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|
officership
warrior
warrior-ethos
|
Steven Pressfield |
|
1bcb0da
|
Stay stupid. Follow your unconventional, crazy heart.
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|
Steven Pressfield |
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f91dd6b
|
To feel ambition and to act upon it is to embrace the unique calling of our souls. Not to act upon that ambition is to turn our backs on ourselves and on the reason for our existence.
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|
Steven Pressfield |
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2279ebc
|
Resistance cannot be seen, touched, heard, or smelled. But it can be felt.
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|
Steven Pressfield |
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b31e18e
|
Resistance obstructs movement only from a lower sphere to a higher. It kicks in when we seek to pursue a calling in the arts, launch an innovative enterprise, or evolve to a high station morally, ethically, or spiritually.
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Steven Pressfield |
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7e5bae4
|
Nothing is as empowering as real-world validation, even if it's for failure.
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failure
validation
|
Steven Pressfield |
|
f744147
|
Fear conquers fear. This is how we Spartans do it, counterpoising to fear of death a greater fear: that of dishonor. Of exclusion from the pack.
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Steven Pressfield |
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7c67306
|
Resistance will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work.
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Steven Pressfield |
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403a065
|
Like a magnetized needle floating on a surface of oil, Resistance will unfailingly point to true North - meaning that calling or action it most wants to stop us from doing. We can use this. We can use it as a compass. We can navigate by Resistance, letting it guide us to that calling or action that we must follow before all others.
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|
compass
navigate
resistance
true-north
|
Steven Pressfield |
|
dd3e87f
|
Never forget, Alexandros, that this flesh, this body, does not belong to us. Thank God it doesn't. If I thought this stuff was mine, I could not advance a pace into the face of the enemy. But it is not ours, my friend. It belongs to the gods and to our children, our fathers and mothers and those of Lakedaemon a hundred, a thousand years yet unborn. It belongs to the city which gives us all we have and demands no less in requital.
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Steven Pressfield |
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36cb3bf
|
We feed it [Resistance] with power by our fear of it. Master that fear and we conquer Resistance.
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|
conquer-fear
fear
resistance
|
Steven Pressfield |
|
4cb72fa
|
The working artist will not tolerate trouble in her life because she knows trouble prevents her from doing her work.
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|
trouble
|
Steven Pressfield |
|
8a15820
|
We're wrong if we think we're the only ones struggling with Resistance. Everyone who has a body experiences Resistance.
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|
|
Steven Pressfield |
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7728aae
|
When we're living as amateurs, we're running away from our calling -- meaning our work, our destiny, the obligation to become our truest and highest selves. Addiction becomes a surrogate for our calling. We enact the addiction instead of embracing the calling. Why? Because to follow a calling requires work. It's hard. It hurts. It demands entering the pain-zone of effort, risk, and exposure.
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|
|
Steven Pressfield |
|
f320ae5
|
No matter how great a writer, artist, or entrepreneur, he is a mortal, he is fallible. He is not proof against Resistance. He will drop the ball; he will crash. That's why they call it rewriting.
|
|
|
Steven Pressfield |
|
4f88cf2
|
Resistance gets us to plunge into a project with an overambitious and unrealistic timetable for its completion.
|
|
resistance
|
Steven Pressfield |
|
2631472
|
The professional arms himself with patience, not only to give the stars time to align in his career, but to keep himself from flaming out in each individual work.
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|
|
Steven Pressfield |