# The War of Art
## Metadata
- Author:: [[Steven Pressfield]]
- Full Title:: The War of Art
- Category: #books
## Highlights
> writer who ([Location 42](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=42))
> Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance. ([Location 85](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=85))
> The warrior and the artist live by the same code of necessity, which dictates that the battle must be fought anew every day. ([Location 172](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=172))
> The highest treason a crab can commit is to make a leap for the rim of the bucket. ([Location 202](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=202))
> Fundamentalism is the philosophy of the powerless, the conquered, the displaced and the dispossessed. Its spawning ground is the wreckage of political and military defeat, as Hebrew fundamentalism arose during the Babylonian captivity, as white Christian fundamentalism appeared in the American South during Reconstruction, as the notion of the Master Race evolved in Germany following World War I. In such desperate times, the vanquished race would perish without a doctrine that restored hope and pride. Islamic fundamentalism ascends from the same landscape of despair and possesses the same tremendous and potent appeal. What exactly is this despair? It is the despair of freedom. The dislocation and emasculation experienced by the individual cut free from the familiar and comforting structures of the tribe and the clan, the village and the family. It is the state of modern life. The fundamentalist (or, more accurately, the beleaguered individual who comes to embrace fundamentalism) cannot stand freedom. He cannot find his way into the future, so he retreats to the past. He returns in imagination to the glory days of his race and seeks to reconstitute both them and himself in their purer, more virtuous light. He gets back to basics. To fundamentals. ([Location 306](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=306))
> The paradox seems to be, as Socrates demonstrated long ago, that the truly free individual is free only to the extent of his own self-mastery. While those who will not govern themselves are condemned to find masters to govern over them. ([Location 334](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=334))
> The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death. ([Location 344](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=344))
> I'm keenly aware of the Principle of Priority, which states (a) you must know the difference between what is urgent and what is important, and (b) you must do what's important first. ([Location 485](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=485))
> The Bhagavad-Gita tells us we have a right only to our labor, not to the fruits of our labor. All the warrior can give is his life; all the athlete can do is leave everything on the field. ([Location 653](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=653))
> O Divine Poesy, goddess, daughter of Zeus, sustain for me this song of the various-minded man who, after he had plundered the innermost citadel of hallowed Troy, was made to stray grievously about the coasts of men, the sport of their customs, good and bad, while his heart, through all the sea-faring, ached with an agony to redeem himself and bring his company safe home. Vain hope — for them. The fools! Their own witlessness cast them aside. To destroy for meat the oxen of the most exalted Sun, wherefore the Sun-god blotted out the day of their return. Make this tale live for us in all its many bearings, O Muse. . . . ([Location 860](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=860))
> I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets: "Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic, and power in it. Begin it now." ([Location 882](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=882))
# The War of Art
## Metadata
- Author:: [[Steven Pressfield]]
- Full Title:: The War of Art
- Category: #books
## Highlights
> writer who ([Location 42](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=42))
> Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance. ([Location 85](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=85))
> The warrior and the artist live by the same code of necessity, which dictates that the battle must be fought anew every day. ([Location 172](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=172))
> The highest treason a crab can commit is to make a leap for the rim of the bucket. ([Location 202](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=202))
> Fundamentalism is the philosophy of the powerless, the conquered, the displaced and the dispossessed. Its spawning ground is the wreckage of political and military defeat, as Hebrew fundamentalism arose during the Babylonian captivity, as white Christian fundamentalism appeared in the American South during Reconstruction, as the notion of the Master Race evolved in Germany following World War I. In such desperate times, the vanquished race would perish without a doctrine that restored hope and pride. Islamic fundamentalism ascends from the same landscape of despair and possesses the same tremendous and potent appeal. What exactly is this despair? It is the despair of freedom. The dislocation and emasculation experienced by the individual cut free from the familiar and comforting structures of the tribe and the clan, the village and the family. It is the state of modern life. The fundamentalist (or, more accurately, the beleaguered individual who comes to embrace fundamentalism) cannot stand freedom. He cannot find his way into the future, so he retreats to the past. He returns in imagination to the glory days of his race and seeks to reconstitute both them and himself in their purer, more virtuous light. He gets back to basics. To fundamentals. ([Location 306](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=306))
> The paradox seems to be, as Socrates demonstrated long ago, that the truly free individual is free only to the extent of his own self-mastery. While those who will not govern themselves are condemned to find masters to govern over them. ([Location 334](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=334))
> The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death. ([Location 344](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=344))
> I'm keenly aware of the Principle of Priority, which states (a) you must know the difference between what is urgent and what is important, and (b) you must do what's important first. ([Location 485](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=485))
> The Bhagavad-Gita tells us we have a right only to our labor, not to the fruits of our labor. All the warrior can give is his life; all the athlete can do is leave everything on the field. ([Location 653](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=653))
> O Divine Poesy, goddess, daughter of Zeus, sustain for me this song of the various-minded man who, after he had plundered the innermost citadel of hallowed Troy, was made to stray grievously about the coasts of men, the sport of their customs, good and bad, while his heart, through all the sea-faring, ached with an agony to redeem himself and bring his company safe home. Vain hope — for them. The fools! Their own witlessness cast them aside. To destroy for meat the oxen of the most exalted Sun, wherefore the Sun-god blotted out the day of their return. Make this tale live for us in all its many bearings, O Muse. . . . ([Location 860](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=860))
> I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets: "Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic, and power in it. Begin it now." ([Location 882](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=882))