This is what I feared for Michael. That his generation, so strong, so well made, so bright and aware beyond its years, would compare itself to us in … - Steven Pressfield

The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.

My wish for you, Kallistos, is that you survive as many battles in the flesh as you have already fought in your imagination. Perhaps then you will acquire the humility of a man and bear yourself no longer as the demigod you presume yourself to be.

The sword master stepping onto the fighting floor knows he will be facing powerful opponents. Not the physical adversaries whom he will fight (though those indeed serve as stand-ins for the enemy). The real enemy is inside himself. The monk in meditation knows this. So does the yogi. So do the film editor and the video-game creator and the software writer.