Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I think that evolution has had a hand in selecting people who had a sense of doing something beyond themselves.
If you do anything well, it becomes enjoyable. To keep enjoying something, you need to increase its complexity.
But shortcuts are dangerous; we cannot delude ourselves that our knowledge is further along than it actually is.
To be successful you have to enjoy doing your best while at the same time contributing to something beyond yourself.
For better or worse, our future will be determined in large part by our dreams and by the struggle to make them real.
Creative individuals are more likely to have not only the strengths of their own gender but those of the other one, too.
Happiness is not something that happens ... It does not depend on outside events, but, rather, on how we interpret them.
Look at problems from as many viewpoints as possible. Figure out the implications of the problem. Implement the solution.
Write down each day what surprised you and how you surprised others. When something strikes a spark of interest, follow it.
To gain control over the quality of experience, one needs to learn how to build enjoyment into what happens day in, day out.
I have a naive trust in the universe - that at some level it all makes sense, and we can get glimpses of that sense if we try.
But it is impossible to enjoy a tennis game, a book, or a conversation unless attention is fully concentrated on the activity.
A business is successful to the extent that it provides a product or service that contributes to happiness in all of its forms.
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.
The most important step in emancipating oneself from social controls is the ability to find rewards in the events of each moment.
Attention is psychic energy, and like physical energy, unless we allocate some part of it to the task at hand, no work gets done.
A typical day is full of anxiety and boredom. Flow experiences provide the flashes of intense living against this dull background.
If an enterprise does not aspire to be the best of its kind, it will attract second-rate employees, and it will be soon forgotten.
Other things equal, a life filled with complex flow activities is more worth living than one spent consuming passive entertainment.
We can either help to make this world a more incredible place than it has ever been, or we can hasten its return to inorganic dust.
Unless a person knows how to give order to her thoughts, attention will be attracted to whatever is most problematic at the moment.
One cannot lead a life that is truly excellent without feeling that one belongs to something greater and more permanent than oneself.
Enjoyment appears at the boundary between boredom and anxiety, when the challenges are just balanced with the person's capacity to act.
Knowing oneself is not so much a question of discovering what is present in one's self, but rather the creation of who one wants to be.
There will be no good business unless the majority comes to agree that we should demand more from business than large quarterly returns.
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.
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?'"
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.
As long as we respond predictably to what feels good and what feels bad, it is easy for others to exploit our preferences for their own ends.
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.
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.
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.
A person can make himself happy, or miserable, regardless of what is actually happening 'outside,' just by changing the contents of consciousness.
When a religion or ideology becomes dominant, the lack of controls will result in widening spirals of license leading to degradation and corruption.
When people restrain themselves out of fear, their lives are by necessity diminished. They become rigid and defensive, and their self stops growing.
Only direct control of experience, the ability to derive moment-by-moment enjoyment from everything we do, can overcome the obstacles to fulfillment.
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.
There are managers so preoccupied with their e-mail messages that they never look up from their screens to see what's happening in the nondigital world
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.
We shape our life by deciding to pay attention to it. It is the direction of our attention and its intensity that will determines what we accomplish and how well.
It is essential to learn to enjoy life. It really does not make sense to go through the motions of existence if one does not appreciate as much of it as possible.
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.
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.
People generally report higher levels of stress, depression, and tension after watching TV. It seems that TV's main virtue is that it occupies the mind undemandingly.
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.
If we agree that the bottom line of life is happiness, not success, then it makes perfect sense to say that it is the journey that counts, not reaching the destination.
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 more a person feels skilled, the more her moods will improve; while the more challenges that are present, the more her attention will become focused and concentrated.
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.
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.