Act as if the future of the universe depends on what you do, while laughing at yourself for thinking that your actions make any difference. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi More Quotes by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi More Quotes From Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi One must develop skills that stretch capacities, that make one more than what one is. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi skillscapacity For better or worse, our future is now closely tied to human creativity. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi our-futurecreativityhumans For a person to become deeply involved in any activity it is essential that he knows precisely what tasks he must accomplish, moment by moment. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi essentialsfocustasks 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 rest-of-lifecreativityart Write down each day what surprised you and how you surprised others. When something strikes a spark of interest, follow it. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi sparkseach-daywriting Flow is hard to achieve without effort. Flow is not 'wasting time. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi wasting-timeeffortflow 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 resiliencelearningteaching Most of us become so rigidly fixed in the ruts carved out by genetic programming and social conditioning that we ignore the options of choosing any other course of action. Living exclusively by genetic and social instructions is fine as long as everything goes well. But the moment bioloical or social goals are frustrated- which in the long run is inevitable - a person must formulate new goals, and create a new flow activity for himself, or else he will always waste his energies in inner turmoil. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi goalrunninglong If you're alone with nothing to do, the quality of your experience really plummets. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi qualitysolitudeifs For original ideas to come about, you have to let them percolate under the level of consciousness in a place where we have no way to make them obey our own desires or our own direction. Their random combinations are driven by forces we don't know about. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi intelligenceintellectualideas 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 detailstryinglooks When we are involved in [creativity], we feel that we are living more fully than during the rest of life. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi living-morerest-of-lifecreativity How we feel about ourselves, the joy we get from living, ultimately depends directly on how the mind filters and interprets everyday experiences. Whether we are happy depends on inner harmony, not on the controls we are able to exert over the great forces of the universe. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi laughterjoyhappiness Try to be inspired by something every day. Try to inspire at least one person every day. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi inspirationtryinginspire The task is to learn how to enjoy everyday life without diminishing other people's chances to enjoy theirs. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi everydaytaskspeople A leader will find it difficult to articulate a coherent vision unless it expresses his core values, his basic identity...one must first embark on the formidable journey of self-discovery in order to create a vision with authentic soul. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi businessjourneyleadership Even without success, creative persons find joy in a job well done. Learning for its own sake is rewarding. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi motivationaljobslife There are two main strategies we can try to improve the quality of life. The first is to try making external conditions match our goals. The second is to change how we experience external conditions to make them fit our goals better. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi changegoaltwo 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 qualityablepeople One cannot lead a life that is truly excellent without feeling that one belongs to something greater and more permanent than oneself. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi existentialexcellentfeelings
