Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Quotes

Quotes about:

• Flow is being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Fall, Time Flies, Ego

  86 Copy quote

• The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times...the best moments usually occur when a person's body or mind is stretched to it's limited in voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Effort, Mind, Body

  7 Copy quote

• If you are interested in something, you will focus on it, and if you focus attention on anything, it is likely that you will become interested in it. Many of the things we find interesting are not so by nature, but because we took the trouble of paying attention to them.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Nature, Interesting, Focus

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1997). “Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life”, p.128, Basic Books

  80 Copy quote

• It is how people respond to stress that determines whether they will profit from misfortune or be miserable.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Stress, People, Miserable

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2001). “Flow: the psychology of optimal experience”

  5 Copy quote

• What I "discovered" was that happiness is not something that happens. It is not the result of good fortune or random chance. It is not something that money can buy or power command. It does not depend on outside events, but, rather, on how we interpret them. Happiness, in fact, is a condition that must be prepared for, cultivated, and defended privately by each person. People who learn to control inner experience will be able to determine the quality of their lives, which is as close as any of us can come to being happy.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Happiness, Happy, Discovery

  71 Copy quote

• Find out what you like and what you hate about life. Start doing more of what you love, less of what you hate.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Life, Hate, What You Love

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1996). “Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention”, Harpercollins

  43 Copy quote

• The happiest people spend much time in a state of flow - the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Inspirational, People, Cost

  8 Copy quote

• A joyful life is an individual creation that cannot be copied from a recipe.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Freedom, Joy, Recipes

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2001). “Flow: the psychology of optimal experience”

  66 Copy quote

• Goals transform a random walk into a chase.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Goal, Walks

  "Go With The Flow" by John Geirland, www.wired.com. September 01, 1996.

  7 Copy quote

• If you do anything well, it becomes enjoyable. To keep enjoying something, you need to increase its complexity.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Joy, Needs, Increase

  39 Copy quote

• To overcome the anxieties and depressions of contemporary life, individuals must become independent of the social environment to the degree that they no longer respond exclusively in terms of its rewards and punishments. To achieve such autonomy, a person has to learn to provide rewards to herself. She has to develop the ability to find enjoyment and purpose regardless of external circumstances.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Independent, Punishment, Anxiety

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2001). “Flow: the psychology of optimal experience”

  52 Copy quote

• I have a naive trust in the universe - that at some level it all makes sense, and we can get glimpses of that sense if we try.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Trying, Glimpse, Levels

  3 Copy quote

• It is not the hearing that improves life, but the listening.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Listening, Hearing

  6 Copy quote

• We shape our life by deciding to pay attention to it. It is the direction of our attention and its intensity that will determines what we accomplish and how well.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Attention, Shapes, Pay

  21 Copy quote

• Control of consciousness determines the quality of life.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Quality, Consciousness, Quality Of Life

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2009). “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience”, p.26, Harper Collins

  14 Copy quote

• The ability to take misfortune and make something good come of it is a rare gift. Those who possess it are ..said to have resilience or courage.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Teaching, Learning, Resilience

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2001). “Flow: the psychology of optimal experience”

  8 Copy quote

• It is essential to learn to enjoy life. It really does not make sense to go through the motions of existence if one does not appreciate as much of it as possible.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Appreciate, Enjoy Life, Essentials

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1993). “The evolving self: a psychology for the third millennium”, Harpercollins

  10 Copy quote

• Unless a person knows how to give order to her thoughts, attention will be attracted to whatever is most problematic at the moment.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Order, Giving, Attention

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2001). “Flow: the psychology of optimal experience”

  24 Copy quote

• One of the surest ways to enrich life is to make experiences less fleeting.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Fleeting, Way, Life Is

  4 Copy quote

• Even without success, creative persons find joy in a job well done. Learning for its own sake is rewarding.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Life, Motivational, Jobs

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2009). “Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and”, p.5, Harper Collins

  9 Copy quote

• It is by being fully involved with every detail of our lives, whether good or bad, that we find happiness, not by trying to look for it directly.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Trying, Details, Looks

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2009). “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience”, p.11, Harper Collins

  7 Copy quote

• Creativity is a central source of meaning in our lives...most of the things that are interesting, important, and human are the results of creativity...when we are involved in it, we feel that we are living more fully than during the rest of life.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Art, Creativity, Rest Of Life

  30 Copy quote

• It is amazing how little effort most people make to improve control of their attention. If reading a book seems too difficult, instead of sharpening concentration we tend to set it aside and instead turn on the television, which not only requires minimal attention, but in fact tends to diffuse what little it commands with choppy editing, commercial interruptions, and generally inane content.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Book, Reading, Editing

  20 Copy quote

• Write down each day what surprised you and how you surprised others. When something strikes a spark of interest, follow it.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Writing, Each Day, Sparks

  30 Copy quote

• Try to be inspired by something every day. Try to inspire at least one person every day.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Inspiration, Inspire, Trying

  15 Copy quote

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