Csikszentmihaly

“The essence of socialization is to make people dependent on social controls, to have them respond predictably to rewards and punishments.”

— Csikszentmihaly

“We are always getting to live, as Ralph Waldo Emerson used to say, but never living. Or as poor Frances learned in…

— Csikszentmihaly

“...the concentration is usually possible because the task undertaken has clear goals and provides immediate feedback.”

— Csikszentmihaly

“...they make us dependent on a social system that exploits our energies for its own purposes. ...If a person learns to enjoy…

— Csikszentmihaly

“...what the social environment told them to want...”

— Csikszentmihaly

“But anyone who has experienced flow knows that the deep enjoyment it provieds requires an equal degree of disciplined concentration.”

— Csikszentmihaly

“The last great attempt to free consciousness from the domination of impulses and social controls was psychoanalysis; as Freud pointed out, the…

— Csikszentmihaly

“Wealth, status, and power have become in our culture all too powerful symbols of happiness. ... And we assume that if only…

— Csikszentmihaly

“The names we use to describe personality traits - such as extrovert, high achiever, or paranoid - refer to the specific patterns…

— Csikszentmihaly

“But religions are only temporarily successful attempts to cope with the lack of meaning in life; they are not permanent answers.”

— Csikszentmihaly