"Life must be lived forward in order to be enjoyed backward."
— Søren Kierkegaard

"Our Creator would never have made such lovely days, and have given us the deep hearts to enjoy them, above and beyond all thought, unless we were meant to be immortal."
— Nathaniel Hawthorne

"These examples suggest what one needs to learn to control attention. In principle any skill or discipline one can master on one’s own will serve: meditation and prayer if one is so inclined; exercise, aerobics, martial arts for those who prefer concentrating on physical skills. Any specialization or expertise that one finds enjoyable and where one can improve one’s knowledge over time. The important thing, however, is the attitude toward these disciplines. If one prays in order to be holy, or exercises to develop strong pectoral muscles, or learns to be knowledgeable, then a great deal of the benefit is lost. The important thing is to enjoy the activity for its own sake, and to know that what matters is not the result, but the control one is acquiring over one’s attention."
— Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life)

"For what is hell but a heaven reversed? The two words, diabolical and divine, when applied to extremes of enjoyment, express the same thing, that is, sensations that reach the supernatural."
— Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly (Le dessous de cartes d'une partie de whist)

"pp15 para5
The geography of bliss


"When Americans say it was great, I know it was good. When they say it was good, I know it was okay. When they say it was okay, I know it was bad."
-Laura Klos Sokol"
— Laura Klos Sokol

"A harmless hilarity and a buoyant cheerfulness are not infrequent concomitants of genius; and we are never more deceived than when we mistake gravity for greatness, solemnity for science, and pomposity for erudition."
— Charles Caleb Colton