Resistance is not a peripheral opponent. Resistance arises from within. It is self-generated and self-perpetuated. resistance is the enemy within.

To feel ambition and to act upon it is to embrace the unique calling of our souls.

It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write.

The professional learns to recognize envy-driven criticism and to take it for what it is: the supreme compliment. The critic hates most that which he would have done himself if he had had the guts.

It can pay off, being a hack. Given the depraved state of American culture, a slick dude can make millions being a hack. But even if you succeed, you lose, because you’ve sold out your Muse, and your Muse is you, the best part of yourself, where your finest and only true work comes from.

I'm superstitious. I keep mum while I'm working on something.

A writer writes with his genius; an artist paints with hers; everyone who creates operates from this sacramental center.