Life is not about gutting out every situation. It's about identifying opportunity or the lack thereof. If your pride is all that is standing in the way of quitting, quit. The right people won't care and the wrong people don't matter. If you know you're on the right path, persevere though the pain. It will be worth it.

The problem with the race to the bottom is that you might win

The combination of fear and ignorance (two sides of the same coin) can be paralyzing.

Many people believe that great designers get great clients. It's the other way around.

Sooner or later, the ones who told you that this isn't the way it's done, the ones who found time to sneer, they will find someone else to hassle. Sooner or later, they stop pointing out how much hubris you've got, how you're not entitled to make a new thing, how you will certainly come to regret your choices. Sooner or later, your work speaks for itself. Outlasting the critics feels like it will take a very long time, but you're more patient than they are.

Deadlines have a lousy name. Call them live-lines instead. That´t what they are.

The reason you might choose to embrace the artist within you now is that this is the path to (cue the ironic music) security.