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.

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.

I wrote in the War of Art that I could divide my life neatly into two parts: before turning pro and after. After is better.

Fear doesn't go away. The warrior and the artist live by the same code of necessity, which dictates that the battle must be fought anew every day.

When we turn pro we stop running from our fears. We turn around and face them.

We feed it [Resistance] with power by our fear of it. Master that fear and we conquer Resistance.

When we conquer our fears, we discover a boundless, bottomless, inexhaustible well of passion.