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.
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.
The Spartans say that any army may win while it still has legs under it; the real test comes when all strength is fled and the men must produce victory on will alone.
The difference between an amateur and a professional is in their habits. An amateur has amateur habits. A professional has professional habits. We can never free ourselves from habit. But we can replace bad habits with good ones.
The critic hates most that which he would have done himself if he had had the guts.
The amateur believes he must first overcome his fear; then he can do his work. The professional knows that fear can never be overcome. He knows there is no such thing as a fearless warrior or a dread-free artist.
When we turn pro we stop running from our fears. We turn around and face them.
When we see others beginning to live their authentic selves, it drives us crazy if we have not lived out our own.
Don’t prepare. Begin. Our enemy is not lack of preparation. The enemy is resistance, our chattering brain producing excuses. Start before you are ready.
The professional does not wait for inspiration; he acts in anticipation of it.
I’m superstitious. I keep mum while I’m working on something.
There’s a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t, and the secret is this: 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.
The amateur tweets. The pro works.
The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.
Our job in this life is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it.
Resistance cannot be seen, touched, heard, or smelled. But it can be felt.
The song we’re composing already exists in potential. Our work is to find it.
Every artist has to face his own demons and evolve his own method of working.
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.
It’s better to be in the arena, getting stomped by the bull, than to be up in the stands or out in the parking lot.