For what can be more noble than to slay oneself? Not literally. Not with a blade in the guts. But to extinguish the selfish self within, that part which looks only to its own preservation, to save its own skin. That, I saw, was the victory you Spartans had gained over yourselves. That was the glue. It was what you had learned and it made me stay, to learn it too.
Steven PressfieldItโs not the writing part thatโs hard. Whatโs hard is sitting down to write.
Steven PressfieldThe best and only thing that one artist can do for another is to serve as an example and an inspiration.
Steven PressfieldWe fear discovering that we are more than we think we are. More than our parents/children/teachers think we are. We fear that we actually possess the talent that our still, small voice tells us. That we actually have the guts, the perseverance, the capacity. We fear that we truly can steer our ship, plant our flag, reach our Promised Land. We fear this because, if itโs true, then we become estranged from all we know. We pass through a membrane. We become monsters and monstrous.
Steven PressfieldWe come into this world with a specific, personal destiny. We have a job to do, a calling to enact, a self to become. We are who we are from the cradle, and we're stuck with it.
Steven Pressfield