Steven Pressfield
Steven Pressfield
Steven Pressfieldis an American author, of historical fiction and non-fiction, and screenplays...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAuthor
CountryUnited States of America
real validation empowering
Nothing is as empowering as real-world validation, even if it's for failure.
self long-ago mastery
Socrates demonstrated long ago, that the truly free individual is free only to the extent of his own self-mastery.
art selfish creativity
Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It's a gift to the world and every being in it. Don't cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you've got.
children passion thinking
Picasso painted with passion, Mozart composed with it. A child plays with it all day long. You may think you’ve lost your passion, or that you can’t identify it, or that you have so much of it, it threatens to overwhelm you. None of these is true.
art positive-thinking writing
The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.
war drama character
The last element in drama is high stakes. War, of course, is life and death - survival, not only for the story's characters, but often for the society itself. That's why I'm drawn to stories that are built around wars, even if they're not technically "war stories."
strong enough-already criticism
We cannot let external criticism, even if it's true, fortify our internal foe. That foe is strong enough already.
real adversity heaven
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.
war artist squares
You know, Hitler wanted to be an artist. At eighteen he took his inheritance, seven hundred kronen, and moved to Vienna to live and study... Ever see one of his paintings? Neither have I. Resistance beat him. Call it overstatement but I'll say it anyway: it was easier for Hitler to start World War II than it was for him to face a blank square of canvas.
war drama character
When a novelist or screenwriter is looking for a subject, the element he's seeking is conflict. Conflict makes drama. Conflict produces great characters and memorable scenes. So war is a natural topic.
art war self
Art is a war - between ourselves and the forces of self-sabotage that would stop us from doing our work. The artist is a warrior.
war gone crafts
The professional respects his craft. He does not consider himself superior to it. He recognizes the contributions of those who have gone before him. He apprentices himself to them.
jobs ignorance destiny
If we were born to overthrow the order of ignorance and injustice of the world, it’s our job to realize it and get down to business.
life two resistance
Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.