A joyful life is an individual creation that cannot be copied from a recipe. — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Happiness does not simply happen to us. It's something that we make happen. — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
“It might be true that it is “quality time” that counts, but after a certain point quantity has a bearing on quality.” — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
A business is successful to the extent that it provides a product or service that contributes to happiness in all of its… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Other things equal, a life filled with complex flow activities is more worth living than one spent consuming passive entertainment. — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Happiness is a condition that must be prepared for, cultivated , and defended privately by each person. — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
A person can make himself happy, or miserable, regardless of what is actually happening 'outside,' just by changing the contents of consciousness. — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Whatever the dictates of fashion, it seems that those who take the trouble to gain mastery over what happens in consciousness do… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
It is by being fully involved with every detail of our lives, whether good or bad, that we find happiness, not by… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Happiness is not something that happens ... It does not depend on outside events, but, rather, on how we interpret them. — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
“...success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue...as the unintended side-effect of one's personal dedication to a course greater than oneself.” — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
“Many lives are disrupted by tragic accidents, and even the most fortunate are subjected to stresses of various kinds. Yet such blows… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Contrary to what most of us believe, happiness does not simply happen to us. It's something that we make happen, and it… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Half a century ago, the Austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl wrote that happiness cannot be attained by wanting to be happy - it… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
How we feel about ourselves, the joy we get from living, ultimately depends directly on how the mind filters and interprets everyday… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Pleasure is an important component of the quality of life, but by itself it does not bring happiness. Pleasure helps to maintain… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Since the purpose of business is to satisfy existing desires, or stimulate new ones, if everyone were genuinely happy, there would be… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
If we agree that the bottom line of life is happiness, not success, then it makes perfect sense to say that it… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
“What I “discovered” was that happiness is not something that happens. It is not the result of good fortune or random chance.… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
“Unfortunately, many people find the only challenges they can respond to are violence, gambling, random sex, or drugs. Some of these experiences… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
“How we feel about ourselves, the joy we get from living, ultimately depend directly on how to the mind filters and interprets… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
It is amazing how little effort most people make to improve control of their attention. If reading a book seems too difficult,… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
The foremost reason that happiness is so hard to achieve is that the universe was not designed with the comfort of human… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
..Such practices and beliefs, which interfere with happiness, are neither inevitable nor necessary; they evolved by chance, as a result of random… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
“These examples suggest what one needs to learn to control attention. In principle any skill or discipline one can master on one’s… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
“The best moments in our lives, are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times—although such experiences can also be enjoyable, if we have… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
“On the job people feel skillful and challenged, and therefore feel more happy, strong, creative, and satisfied. In their free time people… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
“If one has failed to develop curiosity and interest in the early years, it is a good idea to acquire them now,… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
It is as if evolution has built a safety device in our nervous system that allows us to experience full happiness only… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Flow is the process of achieving happiness through control over one's inner life. The optimal state of inner experience is order in… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
And, in fact, you can find that the lack of basic resources, material resources, contributes to unhappiness, but the increase in material… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
“Entropy is the normal state of consciousness—a condition that is neither useful nor enjoyable. To avoid this condition, people are naturally eager to fill… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
Most enjoyable activities are not natural; they demand an effort that initially one is reluctant to make. But once the interaction starts to provide… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
People without an internalized symbolic system can all too easily become captives of the media. — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
Through learning we grow, becoming more than we were before, and in that sense learning is unselfish, because it results in the transformation of… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
“Unfortunately, many people find the only challenges they can respond to are violence, gambling, random sex, or drugs. Some of these experiences can be… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
It is essential to learn to enjoy life. It really does not make sense to go through the motions of existence if one does… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
“It is usual to explain the motivation of those who enjoy dangerous activities as some sort of pathological need: they are trying to exorcise… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
“Wisdom and integrity cannot be found in any single domain. A broader viewpoint that breaks across disciplinary boundaries is needed, a way of understanding… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
For better or worse, our future will be determined in large part by our dreams and by the struggle to make them real. — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
Many business leaders today view their jobs as entailing responsibility for the welfare of the wider community. These individuals do not define themselves as… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
The rules themselves are clear enough, and within everyone’s reach. But many forces, both within ourselves and in the environment, stand in the way.… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
When each of these three elements of vision-concern for excellence, for people and for the wider environment-are present, business is transformed from a tool… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
If an enterprise does not aspire to be the best of its kind, it will attract second-rate employees, and it will be soon forgotten. — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
Only direct control of experience, the ability to derive moment-by-moment enjoyment from everything we do, can overcome the obstacles to fulfillment. — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
