You know, Hitler wanted to be an artist. At eighteen he took his inheritance, seven hundred kronen, and moved to Vienna to live and study... Ever see one of his paintings? Neither have I. Resistance beat him. Call it overstatement but I'll say it anyway: it was easier for Hitler to start World War II than it was for him to face a blank square of canvas.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the struggle of creative endeavor versus the ease of destructive action.
In this thought-provoking statement, Steven Pressfield highlights the irony of Adolf Hitler's aspirations as an artist, contrasting his artistic failure with his success in leading a catastrophic war. The quote suggests that the fear of creative insecurity can be so overwhelming that it might lead one to choose paths that ultimately cause harm rather than confronting the vulnerability inherent in artistic expression.
In practice
This quote can be used in a motivational speech about facing challenges in creative pursuits.
Late at night have you experienced a vision of the person you might become, the work you could accomplish, the realized being you were meant to be? Are you a writer who doesn't write, a painter who doesn't paint, an entrepreneur who never starts a venture? Then you know what Resistance is.
It is one thing to study war and another to live the warrior's life.
The amateur believes he must first overcome his fear; then he can do his work. The professional knows that fear can never be overcome. He knows there is no such thing as a fearless warrior or a dread-free artist.
When we sit down day after day and keep grinding, something mysterious starts to happen... Unseen forces enlist in our cause; serendipity reinforces our purpose.
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.
Rule of thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul's evolution, the Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.
Music knows no barrier of age or culture. It isn’t about being politically correct or even making a statement. Music is what appeals to the ears and touches your soul.
Any actor who judges his character is a fool - for every role you play you've got to absorb that character's motives and justifications.
The business of art lies just in this, -- to make that understood and felt which, in the form of an argument, might be incomprehensible and inaccessible.
Acting is a very personal process. It has to do with expressing your own personality, and discovering the character you're playing through your own experience - so we're all different.
I value the people who are willing to make themselves vulnerable and share work that is sensitive and maybe even hard to sing sometimes. Because that's the music that provides the most solace and solidarity to the world.
I have a complex feeling about genre. I love it, but I hate it at the same time. I have the urge to make audiences thrill with the excitement of a genre, but I also try to betray and destroy the expectations placed on that genre.
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