Its [Resistance] aim is to shove us away, distract us from doing our work.

This man has conquered the world! What have you done?" The philosopher replied without an instant's hesitation, "I have conquered the need to conquer the world.

When you're a working writer, sooner or later friends and acquaintances will get you alone and confide that they, too, have a book in them.

Our enemy is not lack of preparation; it’s not the difficulty of the project or the state of the marketplace or the emptiness of our bank account. The enemy is our chattering brain, which, if we give it so much as a nanosecond, will start producing excuses, alibis, transparent self-justifications and a million reasons why we can’t/shouldn’t/won’t do what we know we need to do.

Of any activity you do, ask yourself: If I were the last person on earth, would I still do it?

There is an enemy. There is an intelligent, active, malign force working against us. Step one is to recognize this. This recognition alone is enormously powerful. It saved my life, and it will save yours.

The last thing we want is to remain as we are.