Those who do not understand war believe it contention between armies, friend against foe. No. Rather friend and foe duel as one against an unseen antagonist, whose name is Fear, and seek, even entwined in death, to mount to that promontory whose ensign is honor.

— Steven Pressfield

Steven Pressfield Quotes

At the beginning, the author’s writing was like a selfie: a disposable plea for attention that was all about him and his life. But since he hadn’t done much living, there wasn’t much substance.

— Steven Pressfield

We’re facing dragons too. Fire-breathing griffins of the soul, whom we must outfight and outwit to reach the treasure of our self-in-potential and to release the maiden who is God’s plan and destiny for ourselves and the answer to why we were put on this planet.

— Steven Pressfield

Who profits from a king’s fidelity save generations a thousand years unborn, and which of his works will they recall at that remove, or care?

— Steven Pressfield

The pain of being human is that we’re all angels imprisoned in vessels of flesh.

— Steven Pressfield

Bhagavad-Gita tells us we have a right only to our labor, not to the fruits of our labor.

— Steven Pressfield

Improvisation is not a wild scramble at the last minute. You are not pulling plans out of thin air. Improvisation is the payoff of scrupulous preparation and drill.

— Steven Pressfield

Figure out where you want to go; then work backwards from there.

— Steven Pressfield

This is how Resistance disfigures love. The stew it creates is rich, it’s colorful; Tennessee Williams could work it up into a trilogy. But is it love? If we’re the supporting partner, shouldn’t we face our own failure to pursue our unlived life, rather than hitchhike on our spouse’s coattails? And if we’re the supported partner, shouldn’t we step out from the glow of our loved one’s adoration and instead encourage him to let his own light shine?

— Steven Pressfield

Colonel L., in whose eyes I was a first-rate Riot Acter or, worse, an intellectual – in his phrase, “someone who reads books” – the most damning appraisal that could be made of a junior lieutenant.

— Steven Pressfield

We know that if we embrace our ideals, we must prove worthy of them. And that scares the hell out of us.

— Steven Pressfield

The capacity for empathy and self-restraint will serve us powerfully, not only in our external wars but in the conflicts within our own hearts.

— Steven Pressfield

Resistance is diabolical. It can harness our drive for greatness and our instinct for professionalism and yoke them, instead, to a shadow profession, whose demands will keep us from turning our energies toward their true course.

— Steven Pressfield

Stay primitive. Trust the soup. Swing for the seats.

— Steven Pressfield

The hero wanders. The hero suffers. The hero returns.

— Steven Pressfield

We get ourselves in trouble because it’s a cheap way to get attention. Trouble is a faux form of fame.

— Steven Pressfield

It may be that the human race is not ready for freedom. The air of liberty may be too rarefied for us to breathe. Certainly I wouldn’t be writing this book, on this subject, if living with freedom were easy. 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.

— Steven Pressfield

The more important an activity is to your soul’s evolution, the more you will feel resistance to it.

— Steven Pressfield

In other words, any act that rejects immediate gratification in favor of long-term growth, health, or integrity.

— Steven Pressfield

Decisions are crazy. Sometimes all it takes to get over the hump is a friend who gives you permission.

— Steven Pressfield

Every warrior virtue proceeds from this – courage, selflessness, love of and loyalty to one’s comrades, patience, self-command, the will to endure adversity.

— Steven Pressfield
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