Quotes from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

the self expands through acts of self forgetfulness.

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.

It is better to look suffering straight in the eye, acknowledge and respect it's presence, and then get busy as soon as possible focusing on things we choose to focus on.

The psychic entropy peculiar to the human condition involves seeing more to do than one can actually accomplish and feeling able to accomplish more than what conditions allow.

Few things are sadder than encountering a person who knows exactly what he should do, yet cannot muster enough energy to do it.

It is not the skills we actually have that determine how we feel but the ones we think we have.

Attention is like energy in that without it no work can be done, and in doing work is dissipated. We create ourselves by how we use this energy. Memories, thoughts and feelings are all shaped by how use it. And it is an energy under control, to do with as we please; hence attention is our most important tool in the task of improving the quality of experience.

It is when we act freely, for the sake of the action itself rather than for ulterior motives, that we learn to become more than what we were. When we choose a goal and invest ourselves in it to the limits of concentration, whatever we do will be enjoyable. And once we have tasted this joy, we will redouble our efforts to taste it again. This is the way the self grows.

It is how we choose what we do, and how we approach it, that will determine whether the sum of our days adds up to a formless blur, or to something resembling a work of art.

The universe is not hostile, nor yet is it friendly," in the words of J. H. Holmes. "It is simply indifferent.

Socializing is more positive than being alone, that's why meetings are so popular. People don't like being alone. That would be, however, an important skill to learn...