What could be more natural for this man than to draw to his bosom all with whom he shared that time, even his foes? Perhaps his foes more than any.
There's no mystery to turning pro. It's a decision brought about by an act of will.
The warrior and the artist live by the same code of necessity, which dictates that the battle must be fought anew every day.
The professional conducts his business in the real world. Adversity, injustice, bad hops, and rotten calls, even good breaks and lucky bounces all comprise the ground over which the campaign must be w...
The professional concentrates on the work and allows rewards to come or not come, whatever they like.
The power to take charge was in my hands; all I had to do was believe it.
The hero wanders. The hero suffers. The hero returns. You are that hero.
The hack is like the politician who consults the polls before he takes a position. He's a demagogue. He panders. It can pay off, being a hack. Given the depraved state of American culture, a slick dud...
The essence of professionalism is the focus upon the work and its demands, while we are doing it, to the exclusion of all else. The ancient Spartans schooled themselves to regard the enemy, any enemy,...
Self-doubt can be an ally. This is because it serves as an indicator of aspiration. It reflects love, love of something we dream of doing, and desire, desire to do it. If you find yourself asking your...
It’s better to be in the arena, getting stomped by the bull, than to be up in the stands or out in the parking lot.
It's one thing to lie to ourselves. It's another thing to believe it.
It's not the writing part that's hard. What's hard is sitting down to write.
If addictions and shadow careers are metaphors, sex is the richest one of all and the most difficult to decode. Why are we obsessed with sex? Does sex represent conquest or surrender? Are we seeking t...
I, on the other hand, believe that the source of creativity is found on the same plane of reality as Resistance.
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. What's important...
I was thirty years old before I had an actual thought. Everything up till then was either what Buddhists call monkey-mind chatter or the reflexive regurgitation of whatever my parents or teachers said...
How many of us have become drunks and drug addicts, developed tumors and neuroses, succumbed to painkillers, gossip, and compulsive cell-phone use, simply because we don't do that thing that our heart...
Good. Then we will fight in the shade
Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie.