The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times… The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.Mihály CsĂkszentmályi
In our studies, we found that every flow activity, whether it involved competition, chance, or any other dimension of experience, had this in common: It provided a sense of discovery, a creative feeling of transporting the person into a new reality.Mihály CsĂkszentmályi
A person can make himself happy, or miserable, regardless of what is actually happening 'outside', just by changing the contents of consciousness.Mihály CsĂkszentmályi
The mark of a person who is in control of consciousness is the ability to focus attention at will, to be oblivious to distractions, to concentrate as long as it takes to achieve a goal, and not longer.Mihály CsĂkszentmályi
Goals transform a random walk into a chase.Mihály CsĂkszentmályi
Pleasure is an important component of the quality of life, but by itself it does not bring happiness. Sleep, rest, food, and sex provide restorative homeostatic experiences that return consciousness to order after the needs of the body intrude and cause it to suffer.Mihály CsĂkszentmályi
Flow is the way people describe their state of mind when consciousness is harmoniously ordered, and they want to pursue whatever they are doing for its own sake.Mihály CsĂkszentmályi
When a person's skill is just right to cope with environmental demands, he or she is in 'flow.'Mihály CsĂkszentmályi
To overcome the anxieties and depressions of contemporary life, individuals must become independent of the social environment to the degree that they no longer respond exclusively in terms of its rewards and punishments. To achieve such autonomy, a person has to learn to provide rewards to herself.Mihály CsĂkszentmályi
Because we are free to dispose of our psychic energy as we choose, we are responsible for deciding what we want to accomplish with our lives.Mihály CsĂkszentmályi