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.

Entropy is the normal state of consciousness a condition that is neither useful nor enjoyable.

Studying creativity is not an elite distraction, but provides one of the most exciting models for living.

Flow is the process of achieving happiness through control over one's inner life. The optimal state of inner experience is order in consciousness. This happens when we focus our attention (psychic energy) on realistic goals and when our skills match the challenges we face.

Assimilating the style of predecessors is necessary before one can develop one's own. Only by immersing oneself in the domain can one find out whether there is room left for contributing creatively to it, and whether one is capable of doing so.

Whatever the composition of a firm, if it is to do good business it should be a place where everyone is encouraged to progress toward complexity- or at the very least a place that does not make it more difficult to achieve personal growth.

Flow is hard to achieve without effort. Flow is not 'wasting time.

The mood state Americans are in, on average, when watching television is mildly depressed.

Purpose provides activation energy for living.

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

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

Yet, the elders said, at times the world became too predictable and the challenge began to go out of life. Without challenge, life had no meaning.

Human beings are the only creatures who are allowed to fail. If an ant fails, it's dead.

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.

If you do anything well, it becomes enjoyable. To keep enjoying something, you need to increase its complexity.

Shift often from openness to closure.

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.

A typical day is full of anxiety and boredom. Flow experiences provide the flashes of intense living against this dull background.

One cannot lead a life that is truly excellent without feeling that one belongs to something greater and more permanent than oneself.