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"Self 1 likes the idea of playing in the zone. So Self 1 will try to grasp onto almost anything that promises to take you to what everyone agrees is a wonderful place. But there is one catch; the only way to get there is to leave Self 1 behind."

" as long as you let Self 1 be the one that takes you there, it will be there too and you will not be able to go into the zone. If you do, even for a moment, Self 1 will say, “Good, I got there,” and you will be out again."

"Though I hated losing, I didn’t really enjoy beating someone else; I found it slightly embarrassing"

"“Then what do you really want?” The answer was quite unexpected. What I really wanted, I realized, was to overcome the nervousness that was preventing me from playing my best and enjoying myself."

"they vehemently criticize competition." What is not usually admitted is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, then that would count. Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly this belief is the same as that of the competitor trying to prove himself

"But something was missing. I didn’t experience a desire to win, and as a result I often lacked the necessary determination" "Was there a determination to win that wasn’t an ego trip?"

"If he just wanted to be “in the now,” he could do that on a medium-size wave. Why does the surfer wait for the big wave?" "It is only against the big waves that he is required to use all his skill, all his courage and concentration to overcome"

"*Only by competing with you does he in fact cooperate! No one wants to stand around on the court waiting for the big wave" "true competition is identical with true cooperation"

"If I assume that I am making myself more worthy of respect by winning, then I must believe that by defeating someone, I am making him less worthy of respect. I can’t go up without pushing someone else down. This belief involves us in a needless sense of guilt."