Why people recommend it
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield is a well-known guide on overcoming creative blocks, conquering internal resistance, and approaching artistic work with professionalism and discipline. Joe Rogan frequently recommended this book across multiple episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience, noting that he keeps boxes of it in his studio to hand out regularly to comedians, artists, and guests such as Julia Mossbridge, John Fogerty, Brandon Epstein, Ralph Barbosa, Mike Maxwell, and Paul Stamets. Rogan emphasized that the book addresses the self-imposed suppression and resistance that artists face, while also exploring concepts like summoning the muse and treating creative endeavors with serious dedication. Similarly, Robert Rodriguez appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience and shared that he constantly gifts copies of Pressfield's book to help other artists navigate creative resistance. Andrew Huberman also praised the work on Huberman Lab, explaining that he read the book years ago and that it fundamentally transformed how he approaches both his scientific research and his podcasting workflow. Listeners and guests consistently highlight the title as an essential manual for understanding the psychology of creative work, recognizing internal obstacles, and successfully maintaining daily artistic discipline despite self-doubt.
Who recommended it
- Joe Rogan Recommended
- Chris Williamson Recommended
- Ryan Holiday Recommended
- Steven Pressfield Discussed
- Taylor Pearson Recommended
- Lex Fridman Recommended
- Andrew Huberman Recommended
- Robert Rodriguez Recommended
- Jimmy Carr Recommended
- Duncan Trussell Recommended
- Brian Muraresku Recommended
- Christina P Discussed
- David Perell Discussed
- Morgan Wade Discussed
- Christina Pazsitzky Recommended
- Alex Hormozi Recommended
- Dominick Quartuccio Recommended
- Nir Eyal Recommended
- Lewis Howes Discussed
- Shaan Puri Discussed
- Ryan Schiller Recommended
- Seth Godin Discussed
- George Mack Discussed
- Jack Carr Discussed
- Dan Hardy Recommended
- Jeff Atwood Discussed
- Tom Papa Recommended
- John Dudley Discussed
- Aubrey Marcus Discussed
- Bryan Callen Discussed
Joe Rogan — 64 mentions
“Presfield wrote a great book about it called The War of Art.”
“He's an author. He wrote a great book called The War of Art. And uh I give this book I have boxes of this book out front and I give it to comedians and artists all the time because it's just a book about the creative process about writing. And one of the things that he talks about is the”
“Um, Steven Presfield has an amazing book called The War of Art and it's about that suppression that you put on yourself that that weird and he calls it resistance.”
“I thought that was the War of Art. We have piles of them. Oh, yeah. I saw it out there. We have Stephen Presfield gave me a whole box of them. I'll give you a copy when we leave. Okay. That's a book that will help you a lot because it's basically just about that. That book is just about”
“Presfield talks about when he talks about summoning the muse, you know, when he did you ever read the book The War of Art? I haven't. I've got a copy.”
“And Presfield talked about that in the war of art. Have you read that book? No.”
“I mean do you ever read uh pressfield's war of art”
“and then this is the concept of the Muse right like the Muse is bestowing upon you these beautiful gifts of creativity and Steven pressfield stuff yes the war of art amazing book”
“and I'm not a big fan of like self-help tell me [ __ ] like the war of art that that dude in my opinion and I think yours that's the real deal it's a guide book it's a guide book for creativity and discipline and and becoming a professional”
“have you ever read pressfield's the war of art yeah of course great book great book”
“he like swears by it that the war of art book is all about the Muse about summoning The Muse”
“That's the Steven Pressfield, he swears by it, that the War of Art book is all about the Muse, about summoning the Muse. When you write, there's something weird going on.”
“I've talked about it too many times, but have you ever read Pressfield's 'War of Art'? Oh, we have a copy of it for you, then!”
“have you ever read pressfield's war of art no I have not oh we have a copy of it for you then love he sent us a box because I used to give it to comics when they would or any kind of creative person when they came on the podcast but pressfield wrote this book”
“that's the whole premise of the Steven pressfield book The War the war of art I haven't read that one I just started reading the Rick Ruben one”
“after writing the war of art did you because you you also wrote turning pro”
“you know this is uh i've been into this audio book by steven pressfield uh the war of art i just finished it and now i'm on his uh other book that he has”
“the concept of the muse is you sit like uh have you ever read stephen pressfield yes uh is that with the um the war of art yes”
“it's like it's that's one of the reasons why your book resonated so much it's because like it's just there's a thing that you describe that you just nailed it”
“when did you write the war of art 2002 and in that time after writing that I'm sure it's”
“it's steven pressfield the same guy wrote the war of art i'm in the middle of his second book”
“it's steven pressfield the same guy wrote the war of art i'm in the middle of his second book which i don't like as much as the war of art but turning pro”
“but pressfield talks about that in the war of art have you read that book i haven't read that book”
“but pressfield talks about that in the war of art / Have you read that book”
“Have you ever read Steven Pressfield's 'The War of Art'? I did, yeah!”
“and that's uh one of the terms that Stephen pressfield uses in the war of art the war of art not to be confused with the Art of War”
“he's got a great book about it called the war of art all about like like inviting the muse into your life and being disciplined and sitting there at a computer every day and summoning it and treating it like it's an entity”
“that's why that uh you know war of art book is so good man Steven pressfield's book stepen pressfield he's been on the podcast a couple times he wrote this book called The War of Art and it's all about resistance and how resistance keeps you from achieving your best possible self”
“i was reading this uh listening to this audiobook that i've read this book four or five times it's the war of art by stephen pressfield and uh i i haven't picked it up in forever i used to have a stack of them at my studio and i'd give them out to guests and i was reading it uh”
“That's what Steven Pressfield's book is all about—The War of Art.”
“pressfield's book is all about the war of art I love that guy it's great great great book such a good book”
“did you ever read step pinker's work oh yeah did you ever read the war of art yeah yeah he's got a really interesting way of talking about the Muse that whether or not the Muse is real if you treat it like it's real and treat it with respect that it'll keep providing you with creative gifts”
“and the same work that you discuss in the war of art with resistance I think that applies to many many things”
“Stephen pressfield the guy wrote The War of art he talks about that like summoning The Muse”
“but I think what you've done particularly with the war of art is giving people you've given people tools”
“it's almost like uh you know pressfield writes about the muse and he writes about it like it's like a real thing like treat it like it's a real thing that is show that you show up and you put in the work”
“have you ever read um stephen pressfield's the war of art no it's a really good book about that in particular”
“the war of art war of art amazing yeah”
“the war of art amazing”
“you know that thing in from the war of art that pressfield talks about there's a part of us that like resists so and what does he say that is Joe oh man pressfield talks about it almost like in he he he talks have you read more of art no”
“You know that thing from The War of Art that Pressfield talks about?”
“that's why i'm i'm always telling people about the stephen pressfield book the war of art because he talks about uh respecting the muse and the idea that your ideas come”
“re you ever read steven pressfield's the war of art it's a great book a real small book too”
“it's a steven pressfield's this wrote about it in the war of art yeah it's a great book if you haven't read it the war of art it's a real small book”
“have you ever talked about the war of art Steve field book yeah for anybody that's into it's not just like writing but it's kind of about writing but it's also about like I think everything there's a weird thing that we call that you know we call procrastination and and he calls it resistance in the book”
“you've got to push past that creepy resistance that steven pressfield wrote about in the war of art”
“this is uh i've gotten this from stephen pressfield who wrote the war of art which is a great book and i've also got it from reading stephen king on writing”
“have you read the war of art by Stephen Amon [Pressfield] [ __ ] love it”
“you ever read steven pressfield's book the war of art”
“where's that book yeah right back here to your left dude this book is the [ __ ] people are getting mad at me now from for suggesting this book so much but it's called The War of art it's by this guy Steven press field and it's essentially about overcoming what he calls resistance what most people call procrastination”
“Have you ever um Steven Presfield has a book called The War of Art? I've brought up in this podcast a million times. I actually have a copy of it. I'll give it to you afterwards cuz I I bought like 50 copies of it and I handed I hand it out to people.”
“there's a great book on it Steven pressfield wrote a book called The War of Art”
“like a lot of times people and this is also in Steven pressfield's book The War of art a lot of times people will distract themselves from the actual work at Hand by talking about it”
“uh I was reading his Twitter and he said uh a long time ago something about if you're really into for Creative types is a great book called The War of Art”
“the war of art is the one that I recommend if you're looking for a book that's a a great book on motivation a great book on overcoming resistance in the creative process”
“um I recommend Steven pressfield's the war of art this is a book that I've been recommended to everybody I it's such a good book as far as like motivation to get your [ __ ] together that I I bought stacks of them and I used to hand them out to people all the time”
“did you ever read uh any of pressfield stuff like the war of art no he talks about the Muse you know and he talks about it and treats it like it's a real thing and it's a kind of an interesting idea”
“the one book that I recommend to people on a regular basis which is the war of art for any creative people it is any creative types who are trying to overcome procrastination or blocks or what you know what this guy uh Steven pressfield calls resistance it's a really brilliant brilliant book”
“did you ever read the war of art Steven pressfield book what's it called the war of art no”
“The War of Art and Stephen King on writing. Those are the two. The other one is Steven Steven Presfield's the war on art war and his new one turning pro which is equally brilliant.”
“A book I recommend is called The War of Art by Steven Presfield.”
“that's like one of the things reasons why I love that book The War of art I probably understand and have thought most of the things in that book on my own independently”
“you know there's Steven pressfield book The War of art that deals with the concept of the Muse and it's a fantastic book and I I I used to buy stacks of them and give them to people I gave you one right y recommending that I'm a big fan of pressfield I didn't know he'd written that book it's”
“cynical people who look at like pressfield's book like the the war of Art and they'll go this is poppycock this is nonsense”
Chris Williamson — 13 mentions
“I'd read Steven pressfield's uh the war of Art and then turning pro and I thought wow like imagine what would happen if you treat The Pursuit Of My Chosen career which is podcasting like an athlete”
“there's an interesting quote from Stephen pressfield in the war of Art and he says a real writer knows that the writing part that writing isn't the hard part it's sitting down to right”
“in the war of art Stephen pressfield writes that our job in this life is not to shape ourselves into some kind of Ideal we imagine we ought to be but to find out who we already are and become it”
“but it's also the Stephen pressfield turning pro thing yeah but the war of art thing”
“Stephen pressfield says this in the war of art un real writers know that the difficulty isn't the writing part the difficulty is the sitting down to right part”
“and I actually read sorry I read the war of art which is Stephen pressfield book and then turning pro is a chapter in the war of art which he then turned into a sequel”
“There's a concept from Steven Pressfield's The War of Art, where he he calls those shadow careers.”
“and in the war of art by stephen pressfield he talks a lot about shadow careers so he spent a lot of time in la and hollywood around actors and film business”
“yeah i recently had your friend steven pressfield on the show and i see a lot of parallels between the practice and the war of art and turning pro”
“yeah i recently had your friend steven pressfield on the show and i see a lot of parallels between the practice and the war of art and turning pro is that were you influenced by him when writing this book”
“so as a tiny bit of background i read both the war of art and turning pro this year and they had a very profound impact on how i view the things that i do in my life”
“how does uh the concept of of resistance in the war of art how does that”
“obviously link to the war of art and turning pro will be in the show notes below”
Ryan Holiday — 12 mentions
“and then i know you like uh steven pressfield”
“and then i know you like ”
“No, it’s actually a really great illustration of what Steven Pressfield calls the resistance, right?”
“there pressfield has a joke in the war of artart which I guess is maybe not politically correct but he says something like it was easier for Hitler to start World War I than it was to to do his painting”
“he tells a version of that story also in the war of art he's saying that that's the resistance right”
“uh because is like I tend to reread the war of art or turning pro or one of your books like when I'm about to start a project”
“When somebody does something I guess—even the War of Art—but when somebody does something that is both timely but also has no place in time, that’s something incredible about what art can do. Where it can be everywhere and nowhere current and timeless at the same time.”
“as always this is my copy of war of art her new Pro the artist Journey Gates of Fire”
“there's a line in um one of steven pressfield's books i love have you ever read his stuff no i haven't but he would you would love the war of art”
“Like I was talking to Steven Presfield who wrote The War of Art and he talks about like the muses and I I'm like you can't possibly believe that your artistic stuff is coming from the muses.”
“so you would love steven pressfield he wrote a book called the war of art which i think is like the best book about the sort of creative process ever ever written”
“yeah i think so so read this book the war of art his it's like i think it's the the best the best book about the creative process ever written”
Steven Pressfield — 4 mentions
“But then I have another one another sort of war of art type book that I'm starting on now.”
“I mean that book The War of art changed so many people let me ask you Joe what uh why did that resonate with you”
“like I say if it wasn't for you the war of art would not have been you know reached the level that it could”
“But I found, this was after the War of Arts came out, that the comments that were coming in, We're all in the war of art here.”
Taylor Pearson — 3 mentions
“there's a book called the war of art that i really like about a guy named steve pressfield he's he wrote the legend about a tiger van became a movie about the golfer”
“yeah i mentioned the war of art uh by steven pressfield that's you know i don't know how well-known that is but i like that one a lot”
“yeah i mentioned the war of art by steven pressfield that's you know i don't know how well-known that is but i like that one a lot”
Lex Fridman — 3 mentions
“the following is a conversation with Steven Pressfield author of several powerful nonfiction and historical fiction books including the war of art a book that had a big impact on my life and the life of millions of people whose passion is to create an art science business sport and everywhere else”
“so there's a balance in your book the war of art you talk about resistance with capital R as the invisible force in this universe of ours that finds a way to prevent you from starting or doing the work”
“I think Stephen Pressfield I hope I'm not saying the war of art the war of art beautiful book”
Andrew Huberman — 2 mentions
“And then Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art, sat in the exact chair you're sitting in right now and he said, "Oh, no, you want kind of an uncomfortable chair."”
“I read Steven's book, "The War of Art," some years ago, and I loved it. It transformed the way that I did my science, how I approached the podcast,”
Robert Rodriguez — 1 mention
“Like you have to, you know, I always give people copies of the War of Art, Presfield's book.”
Jimmy Carr — 1 mention
“that's similar to Stephen uh pressfield's work you know the war of art oh I love that book yeah fantastic book”
Duncan Trussell — 1 mention
“it's the reason why uh press Field's book The War of art is so good”
Brian Muraresku — 1 mention
“you do the physical act of summoning The Muse which is how pressfield talks about it in the war of art”
Christina P — 1 mention
“i heard i heard you talking about the um the war of art by steven pressfield which i'm a huge fan of that book as well great book”
David Perell — 1 mention
“What about stuff like this? And, and the War of Art and other...”
Morgan Wade — 1 mention
“But I think that's, there's kind of a—there's um Steven Pressfield tells a version of that story also in the War of Art. He's saying that that's the resistance, right?”
Christina Pazsitzky — 1 mention
“like the war of art is my favorite book”
Alex Hormozi — 1 mention
“I read Steven pressfield war of art then I read turning pro I want to turn pro with the show”
Dominick Quartuccio — 1 mention
“and one of the great books to get around that is the war of art by Stephen pressfield and he talks about this big concept of resistance”
Nir Eyal — 1 mention
“Steven Pressfield talks about this in the the The War of Art.”
Lewis Howes — 1 mention
“yeah but the war of art thing which is that when you do decide to commit yourself to one thing you learn an awful lot just about the process in general”
Shaan Puri — 1 mention
“and so he goes he goes I talked to the guy from who did Stephen pressfield who I think wrote uh the war of art”
Ryan Schiller — 1 mention
“i guess i'll say i really like the book the the war of art um which is a book about creative resistance and the creative struggle and what it means to be creative”
Seth Godin — 1 mention
“you know i discovered the war of art 10 years ago when i was writing linchpin i can't believe no one told me about it beforehand”
George Mack — 1 mention
“this concept of resistance which comes from like the war of art book where Stephen Pressfield says like procrastination is this external force”
Jack Carr — 1 mention
“and then has those series of books on creativity the war of art”
Dan Hardy — 1 mention
“Steven Pressfield wrote about that in a really unique way in the war of art”
Jeff Atwood — 1 mention
“you know you look at it Stephen King this book on writing or Steven Pressfield the war of art book”
Tom Papa — 1 mention
“did you ever read steven pressfield's book the war of art no”
John Dudley — 1 mention
“I heard in a podcast from you long ago you talked about the book um the war of art I bought it stepen prfi I bought it”
Aubrey Marcus — 1 mention
“uh turning pro which is very analogous to the war of Art and I actually would wanted to ask you you know when recommending am between war of Art and turning pro what are the distinctions”
Bryan Callen — 1 mention
“and actually it's in turning pro he talks about this a lot pressfield pressfield you know um and the war of Art and the war of art”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker — 1
“that's one of the more it's a productive way to think of it like Pressfield writes about it and press field in the war of art and he's you know he's a very down-to-earth”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (11: passing, ad reads, own books)
“Steven Pressfield is an author of numerous historical fiction and non-fiction books, including the now iconic "War of Art" and also the book "Do the Work,"”
“It's in "The War of Art," actually. I wrote this out in "The War of Art." Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think it's on page 114 or 115.”
“put your ass where your heart wants to be this is sort of like a war of art type of book”
“Those harder tasks where you have to breach some barrier, some resistance to put it into, you know, Steven Pressfield language, or our friend David Goggins, right? You know, this idea that one has to callous the mind.”
“like when somebody does something I guess even the war of art”
“i had that dream and i talked about the war of art called lark can you see that”
“the war of art gates of fire The Legend of Bagger Vance the Warrior”
“there's the art of war is the war of art and there's the art of the fuck-buddy”
“If I could recommend a book to you, I would recommend Steven Presfield's The Art, excuse me, The War of Art, not to be confused with The Art of War. Um, it's a really excellent book for creative types, for anybody who struggles with, uh, if you're a procrastinator”
“um I give you a recommendation if you're a creative type type at all get the war of art by stepen pressfield a friend of the podcast who's been on before”
“started reading the war of our so I didn't shoot myself we hear that all the time that's the scary one”