I would not give a fig for the simplicity on this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.
—Unknown
Simplicity is nature’s first step, and the last of art.
—Philip James Bailey (1816–1902) English Poet
Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius—and a lot of courage—to move in the opposite direction.
—E. F. Schumacher (1911–77) German Mathematician, Economist
If the pace and the push, the noise and the crowds are getting to you, it’s time to stop the nonsense and find a place of solace to refresh your spirit.
—Chuck Swindoll (b.1934) American Christian Pastor, Author, Educator, Radio Personality
It is simplicity that makes the uneducated more effective than the educated when addressing popular audiences.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
Simplicity of character is the natural result of profound thought.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
My formula for living is quite simple. I get up in the morning and I go to bed at night. In between, I occupy myself as best I can.
—Cary Grant (1904–86) British-American Film Actor
If we live, we live; if we die, we die; if we suffer, we suffer; if we are terrified, we are terrified. There is no problem about it.
—Alan Watts (1915–73) British Buddhist Philosopher, Writer, Speaker
The main obligation is to amuse yourself.
—S. J. Perelman (1904–79) American Humorist, Author, Screenwriter
The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.
—Hans Hofmann
See it big, and keep it simple.
—Wilferd Arlan Peterson (1900–95) American Author
Simplicity of life, even the barest, is not a misery, but the very foundation of refinement; a sanded floor and whitewashed walls and the green trees, and flowery meads, and living waters outside; or a grimy palace amid the same with a regiment of housemaids always working to smear the dirt together so that it may be unnoticed; which, think you, is the most refined, the most fit for a gentleman of those two dwellings?
—William Morris (1834–96) British Designer, Craftsman, Poet, Writer
Anything simple always interests me.
—David Hockney
No matter how complicated a problem is, it usually can be reduced to a simple, comprehensible form which is often the best solution.
—An Wang (1920–90) Chinese-born American Engineer, Inventor, Entrepreneur
The simplest things are often the truest.
—Richard Bach (b.1936) American Novelist, Aviator
One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always run to simplicity.
—Bruce Lee (1940–73) Hong-Kong-born American Sportsperson, Actor, Philosopher, Film Director, Screenwriter
A refined simplicity is the characteristic of all high bred deportment, in every country, and a considerate humanity should be the aim of all beneath it.
—James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851) American Novelist
Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it.
—Rene Descartes (1596–1650) French Mathematician, Philosopher
I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.
—Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867–1957) American Children’s Novelist
Football is blocking and tackling. Everything else is mythology.
—Vince Lombardi (1913–70) American Sportsperson
As poet-philosopher Rabindranath Tagore reminds us, “We cannot cross the sea merely by staring at the water”. Simplicity has power. And living on purpose comes to this: Just do it. How much simpler can we get?
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
In my life there are not that many questions I can’t properly deal with using my $40 adding machine and dog-eared compound interest table.
—Charlie Munger (b.1924) American Investor, Philanthropist
There is only one meaning of life, the act of living itself.
—Erich Fromm (1900–80) German Psychologist, Psychoanalyst, Philosopher
The Three Rules of Work: 1. Out of clutter, find simplicity. 2. From discord, find harmony. 3. In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
In character, in manners, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
The height of cultivation runs to simplicity. Halfway cultivation runs to ornamentation.
—Bruce Lee (1940–73) Hong-Kong-born American Sportsperson, Actor, Philosopher, Film Director, Screenwriter
Simplicity is the glory of expression.
—Walt Whitman (1819–92) American Poet, Essayist, Journalist, American, Poet, Essayist, Journalist
Simplicity is a pleasant thing in children, or at any age, but it is not necessarily admirable, nor is affectation altogether a thing of evil. To be normal, to be at home in the world, with a prospect of power, usefulness, or success, the person must have that imaginative insight into other minds that underlies tact and savoir-faire, morality and beneficence. This insight involves sophistication, some understanding and sharing of the clandestine impulses of human nature. A simplicity that is merely the lack of this insight indicates a sort of defect.
—Charles Cooley (1864–1929) American Sociologist
If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.
—Maya Angelou (1928–2014) American Poet
Very simple ideas lie within the reach only of complex minds.
—Remy de Gourmont (1858–1915) French Poet, Novelist, Critic
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined! As 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.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
At times almost all of us envy the animals. They suffer and die, but do not seem to make a “problem” of it.
—Alan Watts (1915–73) British Buddhist Philosopher, Writer, Speaker
I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American Author, Journalist, Short Story Writer
It can scarcely be denied that the supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as possible without having to surrender the adequate representation of a single datum of experience.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough.
—Charles Dudley Warner (1829–1900) American Essayist, Novelist
Creativity is more than just being different. Anybody can play weird–that’s easy. What’s hard is to be as simple as Bach. Making the simple complicated is commonplace–making the complicated simple, awesomely simple–that’s creativity.
—Charles Mingus
The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life’s plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
Things to remember: 1) The worth of character; 2) The improvement of talent; 3) The influence of example; 4) The joy of origination; 5) The dignity of simplicity; 6) The success of perseverance.
—Marshall Field (1834–1906) American Entrepreneur, Businessperson, Philanthropist
A little simplification would be the first step toward rational living, I think.
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American First Lady, Diplomat, Humanitarian
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Explorer
Behind the complicated details of the world stand the simplicities: God is good, the grown-up man or woman knows the answer to every question, there is such a thing as truth, and justice is as measured and faultless as a clock. Our heroes are simple: they are brave, they tell the truth, they are good swordsmen and they are never in the long run really defeated. That is why no later books satisfy us like those which were read to us in childhood –for those promised a world of great simplicity of which we knew the rules, but the later books are complicated and contradictory with experience; they are formed out of our own disappointing memories.
—Graham Greene (1904–91) British Novelist, Playwright, Short Story Writer
A truly great man never puts away the simplicity of a child.
—Chinese Proverb
There is a majesty in simplicity which is far above the quaintness of wit.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
The man of fixed ingrained principles who has mapped out a straight course, and has the courage and self-control to adhere to it, does not find life complex. Complexities are all of our own making.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
Remember that in giving any reason at all for refusing, you lay some foundation for a future request.
—Arthur Helps (1813–75) English Dramatist, Essayist
The more we reduce the size of our world, the more we shall be its master.
—Jacinto Benavente (1866–1954) Spanish Dramatists
If you want a golden rule that will fit everything, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.
—William Morris (1834–96) British Designer, Craftsman, Poet, Writer
When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike you, do not wait until he has struck before you crush him.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) American Head of State, Lawyer
Simplicity has power. Founding our life on constructive, positive behavior is the simplest, most direct, and powerful approach I’ve ever found—simple, but not easy.
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
Besides 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 the nonessentials.
—Lin Yutang (1895–1976) Chinese Writer, Inventor
Life is not complex. We are complex. Life is simple, and the simple thing is the right thing.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet
To poke a wood fire is more solid enjoyment than almost anything else in the world.
—Charles Dudley Warner (1829–1900) American Essayist, Novelist
The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters is simplicity: nothing is better than simplicity.
—Walt Whitman (1819–92) American Poet, Essayist, Journalist, American, Poet, Essayist, Journalist
Our affluent society contains those of talent and insight who are driven to prefer poverty, to choose it, rather than submit to the desolation of an empty abundance.
—Michael Harrington (1928–89) American Socialist, Writer, Political Activist, Academic
Get black on white.
—Guy de Maupassant (1850–93) French Novelist, Short Story Writer, Poet
It is proof of high culture to say the greatest matters in the simplest way.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Avoid fragmentation: Find your focus and seek simplicity. Purposeful living calls for elegant efficiency and economy of effort—expanding the minimum time and energy necessary to achieve desired goals.
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
The business schools reward difficult complex behavior more than simple behavior, but simple behavior is more effective.
—Warren Buffett (b.1930) American Investor
It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.
—Bruce Lee (1940–73) Hong-Kong-born American Sportsperson, Actor, Philosopher, Film Director, Screenwriter
Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires.
—Laozi (b.604BCE–d:Unknown) Chinese Philosopher