Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Quotes

85 Sourced Quotes

Whatever the dictates of fashion, it seems that those who take the trouble to gain mastery over what happens in consciousness do lead a happier life.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
To be creative, a person has to internalize the entire system that makes creativity possible. Creative individuals are remarkable for their ability to adapt to almost any situation and to make do with whatever is at hand to reach their goals.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Competition is enjoyable only when it is a means to perfect one's skills; when it becomes an end in itself, it ceases to be fun.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Since the purpose of business is to satisfy existing desires, or stimulate new ones, if everyone were genuinely happy, there would be no need for business any longer.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
It is by becoming increasingly complex that the self might be said to grow.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Problems are solved only when we devote a great deal of attention to them and in a creative way...to have a good life, it is not enough to remove what is wrong with it. We also need a positive goal, otherwise why keep going? Creativity is one answer to that question - It provides one of the most exciting models for living.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
We can transform reality to the extent that we influence what happens in consciousness and thus free ourselves from the threats and blandishments of the outside world.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
People without an internalized symbolic system can all too easily become captives of the media.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
There will be no good business unless the majority comes to agree that we should demand more from business than large quarterly returns.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Without the capacity to provide its own information, the mind drifts into randomness.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
A person can make himself happy, or miserable, regardless of what is actually happening 'outside,' just by changing the contents of consciousness.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
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
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
Enjoyment appears at the boundary between boredom and anxiety, when the challenges are just balanced with the person's capacity to act.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
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.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
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.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
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.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Such practices and beliefs, which interfere with happiness, are neither inevitable nor necessary; they evolved by chance, as a result of random responses to accidental conditions. But once they become part of the norms and habits of a culture, people assume that this is how things must be; they come to believe they have no other options.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Sir John Templeton: "My ethical principle in the first place was: 'Where could I use my talents that God gave me to help the most people?'"

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
To live means to experience-through doing, feeling, thinking. Experience takes place in time, so time is the ultimate scarce resource we have. Over the years, the content of experience will determine the quality of life. Therefore one of the most essential decisions any of us can make is about how one's time is allocated or invested.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
But shortcuts are dangerous; we cannot delude ourselves that our knowledge is further along than it actually is.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
A person who forgoes the use of his symbolic skills is never really free.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
However, a good life consists of more than simply the totality of enjoyable experiences. It must also have a meaningful pattern, a trajectory of growth that results in the development of increasing emotional, cognitive, and social complexity.

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

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
If the firms that employ an increasing majority of the population are driven solely to satisfy the owner's greed at the expense of working conditions, of the stability of the community, and of the health of the environment, chances are that the quality of our lives will be worse than it is now.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
We cannot deny the facts of nature, but we should certainly try to improve on them.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Creativity is any act, idea, or product that changes an existing domain, or that transforms an existing domain into a new one What counts is whether the novelty he or she produces is accepted for inclusion in the domain.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Our jobs determine to a large extent what our lives are like. Is what you do for a living making you ill? Does it keep you from becoming a more fully realized person? Do you feel ashamed of what you have to do at work? All too often, the answer to such questions is yes. Yet it does not have to be like that. Work can be one of the most joyful, most fulfilling aspects of life. Whether it will be or not depends on the actions we collectively take.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Without respect, the subtle alchemy that binds an organization or that serves as the impetus for a business transaction would dissolve into mutual suspicion and hostility.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Attention is psychic energy, and like physical energy, unless we allocate some part of it to the task at hand, no work gets done.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi