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πΎ Simplicity
βThe art of living is more like navigation than warfare for what is important is to understand the winds and ride the waves simplyβ
β Alan Watts
βSimplicity is the glory of expressionβ
β Walt Whitman
βDo small things with great love and keep your intentions simple and pureβ
β Mother Teresa
βEvery action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to becomeβ
β James Clear
βThe man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones simply one at a timeβ
β Confucius
βHave you eaten your rice porridge Then wash your bowlβ
β Joshu
βBe like a tree and let the dead leaves drop simply and without regretβ
β Rumi
βBeauty is not in the face beauty is a light in the heartβ
β Khalil Gibran
βEverything should be made as simple as possible but not simplerβ
β Albert Einstein
βWe have the tendency to run away from suffering and to look for happiness but happiness is found in simplicity not in escapeβ
β Leo Babauta
βDesign is not just what it looks like design is how it works and the best designs work simplyβ
β Steve Jobs
βReduce the complexity of life by eliminating the needless wants of life, and the labors of life reduce themselves.β
β Edwin Way Teale
βThe ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speakβ
β Hans Hofmann
βThose who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lastsβ
β Rachel Carson
βPurity and simplicity are the two wings with which man soars above the earth and all temporary nature.β
β Thomas Γ Kempis
βA beautiful thing is never perfect it is simply itself in its natural simplicityβ
β Publilius Syrus
βIn character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity.β
β Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
βSimplicity is the key to brillianceβ
β Bruce Lee
βTo be great be whole exclude nothingβ
β Fernando Pessoa
βSuper Normal is the result of a long tradition of evolutionary advancement in the shape of everyday thingsβ
β Jasper Morrison
βEverybody is talented original and has something important to sayβ
β Brenda Ueland
βThe soul is healed by being with childrenβ
β Fyodor Dostoevsky
βThose who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts and that beauty is found in simplicityβ
βYou are therefore I amβ
β Satish Kumar
βEvery day priests minutely examine the law and endlessly chant complicated sutras before doing that though they should learn how to read the love letters sent by the wind and rain the snow and moonβ
β Ikkyu
βWhat a liberation to realize that the voice in my head is not who I am and that realization is utterly simpleβ
β Eckhart Tolle
βEven after all this time the sun never says to the earth you owe meβ
β Hafiz
βBeware the barrenness of a busy life.β
β Socrates
βBeginners practice not thinking about whether a thing is good or bad they practice just doing itβ
β Huang Po
βGod created paper for the purpose of drawing architecture on it everything else is at least for me an abuse of paperβ
β Alvar Aalto
βLive simply so that others may simply liveβ
β Mahatma Gandhi
βA calm mind a fit body and a house full of love cannot be bought they must be earnedβ
β Naval Ravikant
βSuccess is not the key to happiness happiness is the key to successβ
β Albert Schweitzer
βIn the beginners mind there are many possibilities in the experts mind there are fewβ
β Shunryu Suzuki
βThe spiritual life is not about acquiring it is about letting goβ
β Meister Eckhart
βA truly great person is one who is simple natural and unpretentiousβ
β Ikeda Daisaku
βHave nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.β
β William Morris
βThe essence of deep ecology is to ask deeper questions about lifeβ
β Arne Naess
βThe sole meaning of life is to serve humanity and simplicity is the clearest path to serviceβ
β Leo Tolstoy
βThere are two ways of spreading light to be the candle or the mirror that reflects itβ
β Edith Wharton
βIn every walk with nature one receives far more than one seeksβ
β John Muir
βEveryday mind is the wayβ
β Nansen
βA book is a mirror if an ass peers into it you cannot expect an apostle to look outβ
β Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
βIn the end these things matter most how well did you love how fully did you live how deeply did you let goβ
β Jack Kornfield
βThe deeper that sorrow carves into your being the more joy you can containβ
β Kahlil Gibran
βThere is more to life than increasing its speed and simplicity reveals what that more isβ
β Gandhi
βI know that I know nothing and in that simple admission lies the beginning of wisdomβ
βNot what we have but what we enjoy constitutes our abundanceβ
β Epicurus
βNature is pleased with simplicity. And nature is no dummy.β
β Isaac Newton
βNature is not a place to visit it is homeβ
β Gary Snyder
βSimplicity of life, even the barest, is not a misery, but the very foundation of refinement.β
βOur life is frittered away by detail simplify simplifyβ
β Henry David Thoreau
βSimplicity is the ultimate sophistication.β
β Leonardo da Vinci
βAny intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complexβ
β E.F. Schumacher
βTo attain knowledge add things every day to attain wisdom remove things every dayβ
β Laozi
βThe simplest things are often the truest.β
β Richard Brinsley Sheridan
βWith a few flowers in my garden, half a dozen pictures and some books, I live without envy.β
β Lope de Vega
βComplexity is your enemy and any fool can make something complicatedβ
β Richard Branson
βDrink your tea slowly and reverently as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves slowly and simplyβ
β Thich Nhat Hanh
βGod is in the detailsβ
β Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
βThe simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reductionβ
β John Maeda
βComplexity is your enemy any fool can make something complicated it takes a genius to make something simpleβ
βIf it isnt a clear yes then it should be a clear no and that clarity is the gift of simplicityβ
β Greg McKeown
βSimplicity is the ultimate sophisticationβ
βThe best is the enemy of the goodβ
β Voltaire
βIt is not the man who has too little but the man who craves more that is poor simplicity cures that povertyβ
β Seneca
βThe peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of griefβ
β Wendell Berry
βSimplicity is the keynote of all true eleganceβ
β Coco Chanel
βThe world is not to be put in order the world is order incarnateβ
βSmile breathe and go slowlyβ
βThe world is vast and wide why do you put on your robes at the sound of a bellβ
β Yunmen
βNothing is so strong as gentleness nothing so gentle as real strengthβ
β Saint Francis de Sales
βThe happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughtsβ
β Marcus Aurelius
βMinimalism is just a tool to rid yourself of unnecessary things so that you can focus on what mattersβ
β Fumio Sasaki
βThe more simple we are, the more complete we become.β
β Auguste Rodin
βSimple can be harder than complex you have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simpleβ
βHe is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not but rejoices for those which he has through simplicityβ
β Epictetus
βThe duty of delight is to find beauty and simplicity in everyday thingsβ
β Dorothy Day
βSitting quietly doing nothing spring comes and the grass grows by itselfβ
β Zen Proverb
βBefore enlightenment chop wood carry water After enlightenment chop wood carry waterβ
βMy religion is very simple my religion is kindnessβ
β Dalai Lama
βAnd once the storm is over you will not remember how you made it through but you will be transformedβ
β Haruki Murakami
βThe first step in crafting the life you want is to get rid of everything you dontβ
β Joshua Becker
βThe three most harmful addictions are heroin carbohydrates and a monthly salaryβ
β Nassim Nicholas Taleb
βOut of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony.β
β Unknown
βNature does not hurry yet everything is accomplishedβ
β Lao Tzu
βSimplicity patience compassion these three are your greatest treasuresβ
βWhen we start to feel the shortage of resources simplicity becomes our greatest teacherβ
β D.T. Suzuki
βThe height of sophistication is simplicityβ
β Clare Boothe Luce
βTrue beauty is born of the imperfectβ
β Soetsu Yanagi
βTo make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee and reveryβ
β Emily Dickinson
βLess is only more where more is no goodβ
β Frank Lloyd Wright
βBesides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone.β
β Lin Yutang
βThe height of cultivation always runs to simplicity and the height of simplicity is natural actionβ
βIf it is not a clear yes then it is a clear noβ
β Derek Sivers
βA man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.β
βWealth consists not in having great possessions but in having few wantsβ
βSimplicity boils down to two steps identify the essential and eliminate the restβ
βWealth is the slave of a wise man and the master of a fool simplicity reveals the differenceβ
βEntities should not be multiplied beyond necessityβ
β William of Ockham
βLife is really simple but we insist on making it complicatedβ
βA life of simplicity is a life of truth and a life of truth needs no defenseβ
βI have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorterβ
β Blaise Pascal
βThe difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everythingβ
β Warren Buffett
βIn limitations he first shows himself the master and the law can only give us freedom through simplicityβ
β Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
βIt is not daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away the unessential.β
βMake the best use of what is in your power and take the rest as it happensβ
βTis known by the name of perseverance in a good cause and of obstinacy in a bad oneβ
β Laurence Sterne
βThe good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledgeβ
β Bertrand Russell
βWho looks outside dreams who looks inside awakensβ
β Carl Jung
βWealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.β
βGenius is the ability to reduce the complicated to the simpleβ
β C.W. Ceram
βEssentialism is not about how to get more things done it is about how to get the right things doneβ
βThe life of a designer is a life of fight against the uglinessβ
β Massimo Vignelli
βHow we spend our days is of course how we spend our livesβ
β Annie Dillard
βThe more you know the less you needβ
β Yvon Chouinard
βVery little is needed to make a happy life it is all within yourselfβ
βWhen I am working on a problem I never think about beauty I think only how to solve the problemβ
β Buckminster Fuller
βThe way of the essentialist is the path of being true to yourself and your highest contribution keeping life simple and focusedβ
βBe content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.β
βThe question of what you want to own is actually the question of how you want to live your lifeβ
β Marie Kondo
βBe faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength liesβ
βSimplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningfulβ
βWe think that the more we have the happier we will be but we learn that the opposite is often trueβ
βBefore we can talk about simplicity we must understand complexityβ
β Konosuke Matsushita
βFind beauty in imperfection and accept the natural cycle of growth and decayβ
β Wabi Sabi Philosophy
βThe secret of happiness you see is not found in seeking more but in developing the capacity to enjoy lessβ
βSimplicity is the nature of great souls.β
β Papa Ramadas
βIt seems that perfection is attained not when there is nothing more to add but when there is nothing more to remove and that is pure simplicityβ
β Antoine de Saint-Exupery
βBegin at once to live and count each separate day as a separate lifeβ
βSimplify simplify simplifyβ
β Thoreau
βTo find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk β these are some of the rewards of the simple life.β
β John Burroughs
βThe whole is more than the sum of its parts when we keep things simple enough to see the wholeβ
β Aristotle
βThe soul of a tree lives on in my furnitureβ
β George Nakashima
βYour daily life is your temple and your religionβ
βTo find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter; to be thrilled by the stars at night β these are some of the rewards of the simple life.β
βNothing is more simple than greatness indeed to be simple is to be greatβ
β Ralph Waldo Emerson
βCreativity is subtractionβ
β Austin Kleon
βThe space in which we live should be for the person we are becoming not for the person we were in the pastβ
βMost humans are never fully present in the now because unconsciously they believe that the next moment must be more important simplicity says otherwiseβ
βGood design is as little design as possibleβ
β Dieter Rams
βMaking the simple complicated is commonplace making the complicated simple that is creativityβ
β Charles Mingus
βBeauty speaks like an oracle and ever since man has heeded its message in many waysβ
β Luis Barragan
βKnowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdomβ
βThe miracle is not to walk on water but to walk on the green earth in the present moment simply and with awarenessβ
βPerhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are waiting to see us act with beauty and courageβ
β Rainer Maria Rilke
βThe earth has enough for everyones need but not for everyones greedβ
β Vandana Shiva
βThe living moment is everythingβ
β D.H. Lawrence
βFind the intersection of what you love what you are good at what the world needs and what you can be paid forβ
β Ikigai Philosophy
βThe value of art is in the observer when you find truth you find beautyβ
β Agnes Martin
βThe greatest step towards a life of simplicity is to learn to let go.β
β Steve Maraboli
βDo nothing which is of no useβ
β Miyamoto Musashi
βI apologize for such a long letter I did not have time to write a short oneβ
β Mark Twain
βBe as simple as you can be you will be astonished to see how uncomplicated and happy your life can becomeβ
β Paramahansa Yogananda
βLess is only more where more is no good and simplicity knows the differenceβ
βThere are no uninteresting things only uninterested peopleβ
β G.K. Chesterton
βTruly it is in the darkness that one finds the light so when we are in sorrow then this light is nearest of all and it comes simplyβ
βBeauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicityβ
β Plato
βWalk as if you are kissing the earth with your feetβ
βLove people and use things because the opposite never works and simplicity makes this clearβ
β Joshua Fields Millburn
βAny intelligent fool can make things bigger more complex and more violent it takes a touch of genius to move in the opposite directionβ
βBe faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies and small is simpleβ
βSimplicity is an exact medium between too little and too much.β
β Joshua Reynolds
βThere is no greatness where there is no simplicity goodness and truthβ
βMinimalism is a tool to get rid of excess in favor of what mattersβ
βI went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately to front only the essential facts of lifeβ
βHave nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautifulβ
βComplicating is easy simplifying is difficultβ
β Bruno Munari
βPerfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add but when there is nothing left to take awayβ
βIt is not a daily increase but a daily decrease hack away the unessentialβ
βThe things you own end up owning you simplicity breaks that chain of ownershipβ
βPerfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.β
β Antoine de Saint-ExupΓ©ry
βThe most fundamental aggression to ourselves is remaining ignorant about our own simplicityβ
β Pema Chodron
βThe first step in crafting the life you want is to get rid of everything you do notβ
βIf you cannot find the truth right where you are where else do you expect to find itβ
β Dogen Zenji
βIn this world we walk on the roof of heaven gazing at flowersβ
β Kobayashi Issa
βHappiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmonyβ
β Thomas Merton
βThe secret of happiness is not found in seeking more but in developing the capacity to enjoy lessβ
βIt is not that we have a short time to live but that we waste a great deal of itβ
βThe roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness and that appreciation is simpleβ
βThat is happiness to be dissolved into something complete and greatβ
β Willa Cather
βThe sculptor produces the beautiful statue by chipping away such parts of the marble block as are not needed it is a process of simplificationβ
β Elbert Hubbard
βHappiness is the absence of the striving for happinessβ
β Zhuangzi
βOpen your arms to change but dont let go of your values keep your life simple by holding what mattersβ
βWithin you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any timeβ
β Hermann Hesse
βIt is not that we have a short time to live but that we waste a great deal of it simplicity reclaims that wasted timeβ
βEmptiness is not nothingness it is a richness of potentialβ
β Kenya Hara
βWhat is the one thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessaryβ
β Gary Keller
βKnowing how to simplify is one of the most difficult things in the world.β
β Vincent van Gogh
βWalking and walking the green mountains never endβ
β Santoka Taneda
βIf you cant explain it simply you dont understand it well enoughβ
βPossessions, outward success, publicity, luxury β to me these have always been contemptible. I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone.β
βBe grateful for whoever comes because each has been sent as a guide keep it that simpleβ
βI arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the worldβ
β E.B. White
βLife is simple it is just not easy but simplicity makes even the hard parts bearableβ
β William Wordsworth
βOne should use common words to say uncommon things.β
β Arthur Schopenhauer
βLive each present moment completely and the future will take care of itself enjoy life simplyβ
βOut of clutter find simplicity from discord find harmony in the middle of difficulty lies opportunityβ
βThe best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched they must be felt with the heartβ
β Helen Keller
βTruly happy memories always live on shining more and more beautifully in the heart even as time passesβ
β Banana Yoshimoto
βManifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires.β
βTo be content with little is difficult; to be content with much, impossible.β
β Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach
βThe ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops but the cultivation and perfection of human beingsβ
β Masanobu Fukuoka
βWhen you love someone the best thing you can offer is your presence and that offering is beautifully simpleβ
βLet yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really loveβ
βThe ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.β
βThe highest form of intelligence is the ability to observe without evaluatingβ
β Jiddu Krishnamurti
βAttention is the rarest and purest form of generosityβ
β Simone Weil
βReceive without conceit release without struggle keep things simpleβ
βThe simplicity on the other side of complexity is worth more than the simplicity before itβ
β Oliver Wendell Holmes
βBesides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.β
βFor the simplicity that lies this side of complexity I would not give a fig but for the simplicity that lies on the other side I would give my lifeβ
βLess but betterβ
βIn life there are things that make your heart beat faster in delightβ
β Sei Shonagon
βIn the end it is not the years in your life that count it is the life in your yearsβ
β Abraham Lincoln
βThe only thing that makes life possible is permanent intolerable uncertaintyβ
β Ursula K. Le Guin
βHow much time he gains who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does and keeps his path simpleβ
βThe butterfly counts not months but moments and has time enoughβ
β Rabindranath Tagore
βOur life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.β
βThe mind should be nowhere in particular let it fill the whole bodyβ
β Takuan Soho
βI have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of libraryβ
β Jorge Luis Borges
βLess but better is the essence of good design and good livingβ
βNature does not hurry yet everything is accomplished through simplicityβ
βA man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let aloneβ
βWhen you put your house in order you put your affairs and your past in order too and that process is simpleβ
βOur life is frittered away by detail so simplifyβ
βIndifference towards people and the reality in which they live is actually the one and only cardinal sin in design and in life simplicity cures itβ
βBefore you leave the house look in the mirror and take one thing off simplicity is the final touchβ
βI want to do with you what spring does with the cherry treesβ
β Pablo Neruda
βThe true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life and keeping them simpleβ
βThe greatest sophistication is found in the simplest thingsβ
βThere is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside youβ
β Maya Angelou
βBesides the noble art of getting things done there is the noble art of leaving things undoneβ
βThere is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving and that is your own selfβ
β Aldous Huxley
βSmall is beautiful and simple is sustainableβ
βThe moment one gives close attention to anything even a blade of grass it becomes a mysterious awesome indescribably magnificent world in itselfβ
β Henry Miller
βLess is moreβ
β Robert Browning
βOwning less is better than organizing more because simplicity beats complexity every timeβ
βTrue beauty is not made it is born naturallyβ
β Sori Yanagi
βNot what we have but what we enjoy constitutes our abundance.β
βA journey of a thousand miles begins with a single stepβ
βNothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to knowβ
βWhen you reach the top of the mountain keep climbingβ
βMuddy water is best cleared by leaving it aloneβ
βYou can observe a lot by watchingβ
β Yogi Berra
βThe real core of my work is the way light enters a spaceβ
β Peter Zumthor
βI went to the woods because I wished to live deliberatelyβ
βIn my designs I try to achieve simplicity by exploiting natural light and the beauty of materialsβ
β Tadao Ando
βIf the only prayer you say in your entire life is thank you that will suffice because simplicity is enoughβ
βIf you meet the Buddha on the road kill himβ
β Linji
βIf you do not prioritize your life someone else willβ
βUnborn Buddha mind is the most simple and direct truthβ
β Bankei
βNothing is more simple than greatness; indeed, to be simple is to be great.β
βI say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen.β
βDo not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise seek what they soughtβ
β Matsuo Basho
βJust this is itβ
β Dongshan
βMuddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone and that is the power of simplicityβ
βExcellence is not a singular act but a habit developed through simple consistent practiceβ
βThe art of life lies in a constant readjustment to our surroundingsβ
β Okakura Kakuzo
βGood teaching is more a giving of right questions than a giving of right answersβ
β Josef Albers
βThe ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessaryβ
βI would have written a shorter letter but I did not have the time because brevity requires simplicityβ
βDo not say a little in many words but a great deal in fewβ
β Pythagoras
βHaving less makes you happier this is one of the simplest and most profound truths of human experienceβ
βAbsorb what is useful discard what is not add what is uniquely your ownβ
βSimple can be harder than complexβ
βIn nature nothing exists alone and this interconnection is understood best through simple observationβ
βThe inferno of the living is not something that will be it is what is already hereβ
β Italo Calvino
βThe most precious thing in life is its uncertaintyβ
β Kenko Yoshida
βDesign dissolving in behavior is the most supreme form of designβ
β Naoto Fukasawa
βEvery day is a good dayβ
β Ummon
βThe most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will doβ
β Thomas Jefferson
βI do the same thing over and over improving bit by bitβ
β Jiro Ono
βLive quietly in the moment and see the beauty of all before youβ
βThe art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.β
β William James
βThe extension of the art of dwelling is the art of livingβ
β Charlotte Perriand
βMinimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of everything that distracts us from itβ
βEverything is sculpture any material any idea without hindrance born into space I consider sculptureβ
β Isamu Noguchi
βAs you simplify your life the laws of the universe will be simpler solitude will not be solitude poverty will not be povertyβ
βLess is more in art in life and in the pursuit of meaningβ
βDesign is so simple that is why it is so complicatedβ
β Paul Rand
βSimplicity is the seal of truth.β
β Herman Boerhaave
βAs you start to walk on the way the way appears and the way is always simpleβ
βGreed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfactionβ
β Erich Fromm
βThere is a voice that doesnt use words listen to it for it speaks in simplicityβ
βStillness is the key to all good things in lifeβ
β Ryan Holiday
βAs you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.β
βThe rain has stopped the clouds have drifted away and the weather is clear againβ
β Ryokan
βThe sage does not hoard the more he gives to others the more he has for himself through simplicityβ
βThe greatest truths are the simplest, and so are the greatest men.β
β Julius Charles Hare
βTo be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the simplest and greatest accomplishmentβ
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