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626b1d0 What could be more natural for this man than to draw to his bosom all with whom he shared that time, even his foes? Perhaps his foes more than any. Steven Pressfield
b39b75f Each man recalls not the enemy he hated, but the champion who engaged him with such valor. Steven Pressfield
f8f5c32 It was an era when history butted up against mythology, Steven Pressfield
0f3327f The amateur has not mastered the technique of his art. Nor does he expose himself to judgment in the real world. If we show our poem to our friend and our friend says, "It's wonderful, I love it," that's not real-world feedback, that's our friend being nice to us. Nothing is as empowering as real-world validation, even if it's for failure." Steven Pressfield
b47f122 The writer is an infantryman. He knows that progress is measured in yards of dirt extracted from the enemy one day, one hour, one minute at a time and paid for in blood. The artist wears combat boots. He looks in the mirror and sees GI Joe. Remember, the Muse favors working stiffs. She hates prima donnas. To the gods the supreme sin is not rape or murder, but pride. Steven Pressfield
c89807a Dienekes says the mind is like a house with many rooms," he said. "There are rooms one must not go into. To anticipate one's death is one of those rooms. We must not allow ourselves even to think it." Steven Pressfield
e912770 The professional has learned better. He respects Resistance. He knows if he caves in today, no matter how plausible the pretext, he'll be twice as likely to cave in tomorrow. Steven Pressfield
66da10b It is that peculiar soldiers' humor which springs from the experience of shared misery and often translates poorly to those not on the spot and enduring the same hardship. Steven Pressfield
ec93768 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. He knows that any job, whether it's a novel or a kitchen remodel, takes twice as long as he thinks and costs twice as much. He accepts that. He recognizes it as reality. The professional steels himself at the start of a project, reminding himself it is the Iditarod, not the sixty-.. Steven Pressfield
589a871 You imagined we had entered unknown country, my friend, when we voyaged across the sea to Amazonia. Yet that was nothing beside the frontier I cross each evening with this woman who is my equal. Each dawn new continents are sighted; each night one alights on shores where no man's sole has trod." He" Steven Pressfield
2c632dd Remember, they hate us as no other nation, for we are to them that which they fear beyond all: women unmastered by men. Steven Pressfield
d455e5b The essence of professionalism is the focus upon the work and its demands, while we are doing it, to the exclusion of all else. The ancient Spartans schooled themselves to regard the enemy, any enemy, as nameless and faceless. In other words, they believed that if they did their work, no force on earth could stand against them. Steven Pressfield
33fc471 Our very existence makes them abominate us, for it calls their own wives and daughters to aspire to freedom. Steven Pressfield
6ba2b94 We see ourselves as nonconformist, but I think all of this is creating a more conformist, conservative age. "Look!" we're saying. "WE'RE normal! THIS is the average!" We are defining the boundaries of normality by tearing apart the people outside it." conservative nonconformist normal Jon Ronson
d21c153 The most pernicious aspect of procrastination is that it can become a habit. We don't just put off our lives today; we put them off till our deathbed. Never forget: This very moment, we can change our lives. There never was a moment, and never will be, when we are without the power to alter our destiny. This second, we can turn the tables on Resistance. This second, we can sit down and do our work. Steven Pressfield
d4db273 The moment a person learns he's got terminal cancer, a profound shift takes place in his psyche. At one stroke in the doctor's office he becomes aware of what really matters to him. Things that sixty seconds earlier had seemed all- important suddenly appear meaningless, while people and concerns that he had till then dismissed at once take on supreme importance. Maybe, he realizes, working this weekend on that big deal at the office isn't a.. Steven Pressfield
14570db Don't cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you've got. Steven Pressfield
2dab1c9 RESISTANCE CAN BE BEATEN If Resistance couldn't be beaten, there would be no Fifth Symphony, no Romeo and Juliet, no Golden Gate Bridge. Defeating Resistance is like giving birth. It seems absolutely impossible until you remember that women have been pulling it off successfully, with support and without, for fifty million years. Steven Pressfield
a1ede54 Remember, the part of us that we imagine needs healing is not the part we create from; that part is far deeper and stronger. The part we create from can't be touched by anything our parents did, or society did. That part is unsullied, uncorrupted; soundproof, waterproof, and bulletproof. In fact, the more troubles we've got, the better and richer that part becomes. Steven Pressfield
f14d511 The payoff for a life of adversity is freedom. Steven Pressfield
8b3a09a Monopoly money; it's not legal tender in that sphere where we have to do our work. In fact, the more energy we spend stoking up on support from colleagues and loved ones, the weaker we become and the less capable of handling our business. Steven Pressfield
80887d5 Do you understand? I hadn't written anything good. It might be years before I would, if I ever did at all. That didn't matter. What counted was that I had, after years of running from it, actually sat down and done my work. Steven Pressfield
56c41a5 The creative act is primitive. Its principles are of birth and genesis. Babies are born in blood and chaos; stars and galaxies come into being amid the release of massive primordial cataclysms. Conception occurs at the primal level. I'm not being facetious when I stress, throughout this book, that it is better to be primitive than to be sophisticated, and better to be stupid than to be smart. The most highly cultured mother gives birth swea.. Steven Pressfield
50c7a15 All that matters is I've put in my time and hit it with all I've got. All that counts is that, for this day, for this session, I have overcome Resistance. Steven Pressfield
3c3ed6d From the day I finally finished something, I've never had trouble finishing anything again. Steven Pressfield
1c42c5a Do we have to stare death in the face to make us stand up and confront Resistance? Does Resistance have to cripple and disfigure our lives before we wake up to its existence? How many of us have become drunks and drug addicts, developed tumors and neuroses, succumbed to painkillers, gossip, and compulsive cell-phone use, simply because we don't do that Steven Pressfield
db18576 The pro keeps coming on. He beats Resistance at its own game by being even more resolute and even more implacable than it is. Steven Pressfield
4de39f0 The next few chapters are going to be about those invisible psychic forces that support and sustain us in our journey toward ourselves. I plan on using terms like muses and angels. Does that make you uncomfortable? If it does, you have my permission to think of angels in the abstract. Consider these forces as being impersonal as gravity. Maybe they are. It's not hard to believe, is it, that a force exists in every grain and seed to make it .. Steven Pressfield
072b1ca problem with friends and family is that they know us as we are. They are invested in maintaining us as we are. Steven Pressfield
cf1cfc2 The hill is a sonofabitch but what can you do? Set one foot in front of another and keep climbing. Steven Pressfield
2dae162 Do not tell me death is real. It is not. I have sustained my heart for ages with the love my brother passed on to me, dead as he was. Steven Pressfield
59eac00 The professional conducts his business in the real world. Adversity, injustice, bad hops, and rotten calls, even good breaks and lucky bounces all comprise the ground over which the campaign must be waged. The field is level, the professional understands, only in heaven. Steven Pressfield
b3b3831 We all fight wars--in our work, within our families and abroad in the wider world. Each of us struggles every day to define and defend our sense of purpose and integrity, to justify our existence on the planet and to understand, if only within our own hearts, who we are and what we believe in. Steven Pressfield
2ac4f25 Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." Begin it now." -- Steven Pressfield
3992cd4 The writer is an infantryman. He knows that progress is measured in yards of dirt extracted from the enemy one day, one hour, one minute at a time and paid for in blood. The artist wears combat boots. Steven Pressfield
eb3f89e It can pay off, being a hack. Given the depraved state of American culture, a slick dude can make millions being a hack. But even if you succeed, you lose, because you've sold out your Muse, and your Muse is you, the best part of yourself, where your finest and only true work comes from. being-real being-true-to-yourself life-s-calling life-s-purpose muse writers Steven Pressfield
2384198 The artist committing himself to his calling has volunteered for hell. artist write writing Steven Pressfield
7346283 Reci cu Njegovom Velicanstvu sto je kralj.Kralj ne boravi u svome satoru dok njegovi ljudi krvare i ginu na ratistu.Kralj ne objeduje dok njegovi ljudi gladuju niti spava dok drze strazu na zidu.Kralj ne zapovijeda vjernoscu svojih ljudi preko straha niti je kupuje zlatom;zaradjuje njihovu ljubav znojem svojih ledja i patnjom koje podnosi za njihovo dobro.Ono sto predstavlja najtezi teret ,kralj prvi podize i poslednji odlaze.Kralj ne zahti.. Steven Pressfield
11ba3d5 The acquisition of a condition lends significance to one's existence. An illness, a cross to bear. Some people go from condition to condition; they cure one, and another pops up to take its place. The condition becomes a work of art in itself, a shadow version of the real creative act the victim is avoiding by expending so much care cultivating his condition. Steven Pressfield
8b12c26 Are you paralyzed with fear? That's a good sign. Steven Pressfield
10d3f3c What factors make you decide to take a particular role?" The actor always answers: "Because I'm afraid of it." Steven Pressfield
cd91789 All genuine epiphanies seem to follow this model: their defining quality is the relinquishment of delusion. The initial fear is that one has lost something. A cherished self-conception must be given up, and one feels diminished by it. This is mistaken, however. A person discovers that he has been made stronger by the jettisoning of this sham and disadvantageous baggage. In fact, he has become more "himself," by aligning his self-concept mor.. Steven Pressfield
acae8ca The American people... have had enough of sacrificing their sons and daughters in the name of some illusory world order; they want someone else's sons and daughters to bear the burden. The American people are willing to pay for this privilege, in cash and in the circumscription of their own liberty. Steven Pressfield
3b4b5e3 He knows that any job, whether it's a novel or a kitchen remodel, takes twice as long as he thinks and costs twice as much. He accepts that. He recognizes it as reality. Steven Pressfield