About this quote

We often erect a false wall between learning and joy, as if serious work requires a grim face. Institutions love to enforce this boundary. They treat fun like a distraction rather than the very thing that makes ideas stick. Why do we assume that boredom equals rigor? You learn more when you are actually engaged and alive to the moment. Stop separating your growth from your happiness.

When to use it

• You are sitting in a stiff corporate training seminar where the facilitator frowns because someone cracked a joke. A coworker leans over and whispers this to you to break the tension.
• Your daughter is supposed to be studying her history textbook but ends up laughing at a weird historical fact she found. You poke your head into her room and say this with a wink.
• During an intense weekend cooking boot camp, the instructor scolds the class for chatting too much while chopping onions. You murmur this to your cooking partner to keep spirits up.