The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.
Interpretation
Fear can indicate the importance of a task, suggesting we should confront it.
This quote by Steven Pressfield highlights the idea that fear often accompanies significant challenges or callings in our lives. Instead of avoiding what scares us, we should recognize fear as a signpost directing us toward the work we are meant to undertake, encouraging personal growth and fulfillment through facing our anxieties.
In practice
This quote can inspire students to tackle challenging subjects they dread.
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.
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.
Itβs better to be in the arena, getting stomped by the bull, than to be up in the stands or out in the parking lot.
The other reason that I am here today, again from the State Department and from the court record of the court of appeals, is that when I am abroad I speak out against the injustices against the Negro people of this land.
I was giving up. I would have given up - if a voice hadn't made itself heard in my heart. The voice said "I will not die. I refuse it. I will make it through this nightmare. I will beat the odds, as great as they are. I have survived so far, miraculously. Now I will turn miracle into routine. The amazing will be seen everyday. I will put in all the hard work necessary. Yes, so long as God is with me, I will not die. Amen.
But only a brief moment is granted to the brave one breath or two, whose wage is the long nights of the grave.
The motto of all the mongoose family is, "Run and find out," and Rikki-tikki was a true mongoose.
I jumped on the grenade that was thrown at myself and my friend. I don't recommend it.
To do nothing was disgraceful; therefore I made use of my understanding.
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