Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Quotes

I have devoted 30 years of research to how creative people live and work, to make more understandable the mysterious process by which they come up with new ideas and new things. [...] If I had to express in one word what makes their personalities different from others, it's complexity. They show tendencies of thought and action that in most people are segregated. They contain contradictory extremes; instead of being an "individual", each of them is a "multitude".

Some people have subject matter expertise in one thing. Some people tend to be creative but not reliable, and others are reliable but not creative. Everybody has different dimensions.

I'm sure people would argue this, but I want to be different in everything I do. I don't think I've been the same in anything I've done, and I want to keep that up.

There are two statements about human beings that are true: that all human beings are alike, and that all are different. On those two facts all human wisdom is founded.

People look like rivers very much: water is everywhere the same, but the rivers are narrow, fast, wide, pure, cold, muddy and warm. The people are the same. They have the rudiment of every human habit in them and they behave according to them. Sometimes they even do not look like themselves, but they still stay whatever they are.

Like everybody I have many different sides.

Nature's far too subtle to repeat herself.

I find people interesting. People trying hard are interesting. People with a passion are interesting - whether it's old cars or taxidermy or knitting.

Different is better. I get more jobs being different.

I'm not confused. I'm just well mixed.

I'm a lot of things at once. I want my audience to choose the side they like most about me.

It's a strange world. Let's keep it that way.

Life is like a box of crayons. Most people are the 8-color boxes, but what you're really looking for are the 64-color boxes with the sharpeners on the back. I fancy myself to be a 64-color box, though I've got a few missing.

I find human beings to be so complex and full of beauty. Creativity is our way to express and challenge and flow. So, all you humans, create and flow! I'll be over here thinking you are beautiful and creepy and freaky and wonderful!

When you have seen one ant, one bird, one tree, you have not seen them all.

Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes.

I think it is - the biggest plus the performer can have is to be a little unique.

Life is full of contrasts.

I think every person is so unique. I think every woman is so unique, every man is so unique, every artist is so unique.

The diversity of perspective, the unwillingness to generalise - those are good traits in countries as they are in art.

The movies I do have to be different in some way. Nothing vanilla will do.

I'm not a Barbie doll, I'm just a multidimensional human being who likes to make things.

Even though I'm a competitive girl, I don't see competition in this industry because every actor and actress has a unique personality that they bring to their films, which is why they get the parts they get.

I love people who have distinctive, unique personalities who are not in assembly lines and have something to offer.

I like being a chameleon and doing things that are just so different that people will be like, 'Oh, that's him?'