The germ of an idea doesn't make the sculpture that stands up... so the next stage is hard work
Mihaly CsikszentmihalyiRead
Entropy is the normal state of consciousness - a condition that is neither useful nor enjoyable.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Entropy reflects the disordered state of consciousness, indicating a lack of purpose or pleasure.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi suggests that entropy represents the default condition of our awareness, where thoughts and feelings can become chaotic and unmanageable. This state of consciousness is characterized by the absence of focused enjoyment or usefulness, highlighting the importance of attaining higher states of awareness that are more fulfilling and structured.
Themes
EntropyConsciousnessDisorderMeaningPurposeAwareness
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about mental health and the importance of finding focus in chaotic times.
More from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
All quotes βIt is not the skills we actually have that determine how we feel but the ones we think we have.
Mihaly CsikszentmihalyiRead
To know oneself is the first step toward making flow a part of one's entire life. But just as there is no free lunch in the material economy, nothing comes free in the psychic one. If one is not willing to invest psychic energy in the internal reality of consciousness, and instead squanders it in chasing external rewards, one loses mastery of one's life, and ends up becoming a puppet of circumstances.
Mihaly CsikszentmihalyiRead
To live means to experience-through doing, feeling, thinking. Experience takes place in time, so time is the ultimate scarce resource we have. Over the years, the content of experience will determine the quality of life. Therefore one of the most essential decisions any of us can make is about how one's time is allocated or invested.
Mihaly CsikszentmihalyiRead
It is as if evolution has built a safety device in our nervous system that allows us to experience full happiness only when we are living at 100%-when we are fully using the physical and mental equipment we have been given.
Mihaly CsikszentmihalyiRead
Our jobs determine to a large extent what our lives are like. Is what you do for a living making you ill? Does it keep you from becoming a more fully realized person? Do you feel ashamed of what you have to do at work? All too often, the answer to such questions is yes. Yet it does not have to be like that. Work can be one of the most joyful, most fulfilling aspects of life. Whether it will be or not depends on the actions we collectively take.
Mihaly CsikszentmihalyiRead
Similar quotes
To get up in the morning, wash and then wait for some unforeseen variety of dread or depression. I would give the whole universe and all of Shakespeare for a grain of ataraxy.
Emile M. CioranRead
This is the secret of spiritual life: to think that I am the Atman and not the body, and that the whole of this universe with all its relations, with all its good and all its evil, is but as a series of paintings...scenes on a canvas...of which I am the witness.
Swami VivekanandaRead
Strength is but one aspect of power.
Zhuge LiangRead
Everyone, when they are young, knows what their destiny is.
Paulo CoelhoRead
Ireland unfree shall never be at peace
Patrick PearseRead
We do not have a money problem in America. We have a values and priorities problem.
Marian Wright EdelmanRead