Material goods rarely alter our levels of happiness, unlike emotional experience. Having can never replace being. -Ilsa Crawford

There is a simple fidelity to the moment that we experience through hygge. ...we adjust our surroundings to guide our energy and desire. Hygge pays attention to the concerns of the human spirit, turning us towards a manner of living that priorities simple pleasure, friendship and connection above consumption.

It makes sense that the everyday experience and practice of something like hygge would not be reserved only for Scandinavians, but shared with other societies that nurture the idea of interiority to the extent that they foreground it. -Jeppe Trolle Linnet.

A rich social life (measured by quality of experience rather than quantity of friends) contributes to good health, happiness and longevity. So many of us place value on hard work, measurable achievement and wealth, and often fail to set aside time to nurture our relationships and strengthen social ties. We make the mistake of believing that security is found in material things rather than people.

The flip side of an experience of enjoyment is the certainty that it won't last forever, Today's moment of hygge will be tomorrow's memory. With that awareness, we give ourselves over to the moment more completely.

I see the task of architecture as the defence of the authenticity of human experience. -Juhani Pallasmaa

Memory is an imaginal constellation of past and present that generates a new experience. Memory is not the storing of the past, but the storying of the present. -Lynda Sexson

Hygge is part of the language of human action and interaction all over the world. To hygge is a universal impetus revealed in the small rituals, gestures and daily experiences that unite and define us all.

There are three salient themes that run through any experience of hygge - interiority, contrast and atmosphere. They support and extend each other and shape our understanding of the concept.