Competition is enjoyable only when it is a means to perfect oneโs skills; when it becomes an end in itself, it ceases to be fun.
Mihaly CsikszentmihalyiFew things are sadder than encountering a person who knows exactly what he should do, yet cannot muster enough energy to do it. "He who desires but acts not," wrote Blake with his accustomed vigor, "Breeds pestilence.
Mihaly CsikszentmihalyiWhat does this contradictory pattern mean?one conclusion seems inevitable: when it comes to work, people do not heed the evidence of their senses. They disregard the quality of immediate experience, and base their motivation instead on the strongly rooted cultural stereotype of what work is supposed to be like. They think of it as an imposition, a constraint, an infringement of their freedom, and therefore something to be avoided as much as possible.
Mihaly CsikszentmihalyiWhen we are involved in [creativity], we feel that we are living more fully than during the rest of life.
Mihaly CsikszentmihalyiCreativity 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 CsikszentmihalyiThe foremost reason that happiness is so hard to achieve is that the universe was not designed with the comfort of human beings in mind...It seems that every time a pressing danger is avoided a new and more sophisticated threat appears on the horizon...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