Be
a Hero for a Better World ... Every Act of Kindness Makes
a Difference!
SIMPLICITY
Voluntary
simplicity is helping people change their lives and
collectively helping to create a better world.
-- Robert
Alan Silverstein
A man
must be able to cut a knot, for everything cannot be untied;
he must know how to disengage what is essential from the
detail in which it is enwrapped, for everything cannot be
equally considered; in a word, he must be able to simplify
his duties, his business and his life.
-- Henri Frederic Amiel
“The
simplest things are often the truest.”
-- Richard Bach
It is the heart that makes a man rich. He is rich according
to what he is, not according to what he has.
-- Henry
Ward Beecher
We,
who have so much, must do more to help those in need.
And most of all, we must live simply, so that others
may simply live.
-- Ed
Begley, Jr.
*
We do need a 'new economy,' but one that is founded
on thrift and care, on saving and conserving, not
on excess and waste. An economy based on waste is
inherently and hopelessly violent, and war is its
inevitable by-product. We need a peaceable economy."
~ Wendell
Berry
So,
friends, every day do something that won't compute.
Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing. Take
all that you have and be poor. Love someone who does
not deserve it. Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free republic for which
it stands.
~ Wendell
Berry
*
I relish simplicity as an all-comprehensive value.
-- Ela
Bhatt
Simplicity
is the essence of happiness.
-- Cedric Bledsoe
The
way to happiness -- keep your heart free from hate, your
mind free from worry, live simply, expect little, give much.
-- Carol Borges
My
riches consist not in the extent of my possessions but in
the fewness of my wants.
-- J. Botherton
*
The consumption society has made us feel that happiness
lies in having things, and has failed to teach us
the happiness of not having things.
--
Elise
Boulding
Frugality
is one of the most beautiful and joyful words in the
English language, and yet one that we are culturally
cut off from understanding and enjoying. The consumption
society has made us feel that happiness lies in having
things, and has failed to teach us the happiness of
not having things.
--
Elise
Boulding
Enjoy
the little things, for one day you may look back and realize
they were the big things.
-- Robert Brault
The
best things in life aren't things.
-- Art Buchwald
To
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; to be elated over a bird's nest or
a wildflower in spring—these are some of the rewards
of the simple life.
~
John
Burroughs
To
live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than
luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy,
not respectable, and wealthy, not, rich; to listen to stars
and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard;
to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions,
hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and
unconscious, grow up through the common--this is my symphony.
-- William Henry Channing
The
happiest heart that ever beat Was in some quiet breast That
found the common daylight sweet, And left to Heaven the
rest.
-- John V. Cheney
“Simplicity
is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity
of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as
the crowning reward of art.”
-- Frederic Chopin
The
art of contentment is the recognition that the most satisfying
and the most dependably refreshing experiences of life lie
not in great things but in little. The rarity of happiness
among those who achieved much is evidence that achievement
is not in itself the assurance of a happy life. The great,
like the humble, may have to find their satisfaction in
the same plain things.
-- Edgar A. Collard
Life
is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.
-- Confucius
It
all depends on whether you have things, or they have you.
-- Robert A. Cook
“If
one's life is simple, contentment has to come. Simplicity
is extremely important for happiness. Having few desires,
feeling satisfied with what you have, is very vital:
satisfaction with just enough food, clothing, and shelter
to protect yourself from the elements. And finally,
there is an intense delight in abandoning faulty states
of mind and in cultivating helpful ones in meditation.”
- The
Dalai Lama
“Simplicity
is the ultimate sophistication.”
-- Leonardo da Vinci
If
you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that
finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since
the world is in fact planted in pennies, you have with your
poverty bought a lifetime of days.
-- Annie Dillard
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but
not simpler.
-- Albert
Einstein
I
believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life
is best for everyone, best both for the body and the
mind.
-- Albert
Einstein
“Three
Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord
find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”
-- Albert
Einstein
The
intention of this way of life [voluntary simplicity]
is not to dogmatically live with less. It's a more
demanding intention of living with balance. This is
a middle way that moves between the extremes of poverty
and indulgence.
~
Duane
Elgin
There's
enough on this planet for everyone's needs but not
for everyone's greed.
-- Mohandas
K. Gandhi
*
“Live simply so that others may simply live.”
-- Mohandas
Gandhi
Man
falls from the pursuit of the ideal of plan living
and high thinking the moment he wants to multiply
his daily wants. Man's happiness really lies in contentment.
-- Mohandas
Gandhi
*
There's
enough on this planet for everyone's needs but not
for everyone's greed.
~ Mohandas
Gandhi
Simplicity,
clarity, singleness: these are the attributes that give
our lives power and vividness and joy.
-- Richard Halloway
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
*
"The future belongs to those who understand that
doing more with less is compassionate, prosperous,
and enduring, and thus more intelligent, even competitive."
~ Paul
Hawken
Simplicity
is indeed often the sign of truth and a criterion of beauty.
-- Mahlon Hoagland
The
ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so
that the necessary may speak.
-- Hans Hofmann
The
world has to learn that the actual pleasure derived from
material things is of rather low quality on the whole and
less even in quantity than it looks to those who have not
tried it.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes
I
have come to terms with the future. From this day onward
I will walk easy on the earth. Plant trees. Kill no living
things. Live in harmony with all creatures. I will restore
the earth where I am. Use no more of its resources than
I need. And listen, listen to what it is telling me.
-- M.J. Slim Hooey
We
don't need to increase our goods nearly as much as we need
to scale down our wants. Not wanting something is as good
as possessing it.
-- Donald Horban
Materialism
is the only form of distraction from true bliss.
-- Doug Horton
You
have succeeded in life when all you really want is only
what you really need.
-- Vernon Howard
The
sculptor produces the beautiful statue by chipping away
such parts of the marble block as are not needed - it is
a process of elimination.
-- Elbert Hubbard
The
wealth of a soul is measured by how much it can feel; its
poverty by how little.
-- W. R. Inge
Voluntary
simplicity means going fewer places in one day rather than
more, seeing less so I can see more, doing less so I can
do more, acquiring less so I can have more.
-- John Kabat-Zinn
The
little things? The little moments? They aren't little.
-- John Kabat-Zinn
Purity
and simplicity are the two wings with which man soars above
the earth and all temporary nature.
-- Thomas a Kempis
Nature
uses as little as possible of anything.
-- Johannes Keppler
Teach
us delight in the simple things,
And mirth that has no bitter springs;
Forgiveness free of evil done,
And love to all men beneath the sun.
-- Rudyard Kipling
To
know you have enough is to be rich.
-- Lao-Tzu, Tao Te Ching
Be
content with what you have, rejoice in the way things
are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole
world belongs to you.
-- Lao Tzu
Manifest
plainness, Embrace simplicity, Reduce selfishness, Have
few desires.
-- Lao-Tzu, Tao Te Ching
I
have learned by some experience, by many examples, and
by the writings of countless others before me, also occupied
in the search, that certain environments, certain modes
of life, certain rules of conduct are more conducive to
inner and outer harmony than others. There are, in fact,
certain roads that one may follow. Simplification of life
is one of them.
-- Ann Morrow Lindbergh (Gift from the Sea)
The
trouble with simple living is that, though it can be joyful,
rich, and creative, it isn't simple.
-- Doris Janzen Longacre
“In
character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme
excellence is simplicity.”
-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Making
the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated
simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.
-- Charles Mingus
Eliminate
physical clutter. More importantly, eliminate spiritual
clutter.
--D.H. Mondfleur
You
can't force simplicity; but you can invite it in by finding
as much richness as possible in the few things at hand.
Simplicity doesn't mean meagerness but rather a certain
kind of richness, the fullness that appears when we stop
stuffing the world with things.
-- Thomas Moore
The
ordinary arts we practice every day at home are of
more importance to the soul than their simplicity
might suggest. Thomas
More
Have
nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful
or believe to be beautiful.
-- William Morris
One
of the advantages of being born in an affluent society
is that if one has any intelligence at all, one
will realize that having more and more won't solve
the problem, and happiness does not lie in possessions,
or even relationships: The answer lies within ourselves.
If we can't find peace and happiness there, it's
not going to come from the outside.
-- Tenzin
Palmo
Simplicity
involves unburdening your life, and living more lightly
with fewer distractions that interfere with a high quality
life, as defined uniquely by each individual. You will
find people living simply in large cities, rural areas
and everything in between.
-- Linda Breen Pierce
The
day, water, sun, moon, night -- I do not have to purchase
these things with money.
-- Plautus
Simplicity
is the nature of great souls.
-- Papa Ramadas
Too
many people spend money they haven't earned, to
buy things they don't want, to impress people they
don't like.
-- Will
Rogers
A
little simplification would be the first step
toward rational living, I think.
-- Eleanor
Roosevelt
Who
is rich? He who rejoices in his portion.
-- The Talmud
Reduce
the complexity of life by eliminating the needless wants
of life, and the labors of life reduce themselves.
-- Edwin Way Teale
“It’s
not funny at all that we do all that advertising
for children. Why is advertising for children allowed?
What possible reason can there be for having those
effing adverts on ITV for all this crap that’s made
by poor people in poor countries that we sell our
children who have too much?
-- Emma
Thompson
Our
life is frittered away by detail... Simplify,
simplify, simplify! ... Simplicity of life and
elevation of purpose.
-- Henry
David Thoreau
*
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.
-- Henry
David Thoreau
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
"What's
the use of a fine house if you haven't got a tolerable
planet to put it on?"
-- Henry
David Thoreau
Most
of the luxuries, and many of the so-called comforts
of life, are not only not indispensable, but positive
hindrances to the elevation of mankind. With respect
to luxuries and comforts, the wisest have even lived
a more simple and meagre life than the poor.
-- Henry
David Thoreau
“To
be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts,
nor even to found a school, but to so love wisdom as
to live according to its dictates a life of simplicity,
independence, magnanimity and trust.”
-- Henry David Thoreau
That
man is richest whose pleasures are the cheapest.
-- Henry
David Thoreau
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
“There
is no greatness where there is not simplicity,
goodness, and truth”
-- Leo
Tolstoy
For
fast acting relief; try slowing down.
-- Lily Tomlin
Less
is more.
-- Mies van der Rohe
Simplicity
is making the journey of this life with just baggage
enough.
-- Charles Dudley Warner (1829-1900)
Simplicity
is the glory of expression
~ Walt
Whitman
After
you have exhausted what there is in business,
politics, conviviality, and so on - have found
that none of these finally satisfy, or permanently
wear - what remains? Nature remains.
~ Walt
Whitman
It
is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real
ones after all.
-- Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House in the Ozarks
by Hines)
I
believe we would be happier to have a personal revolution
in our individual lives and go back to simpler living
and more direct thinking. It is the simple things of
life that make living worthwhile, the sweet fundamental
things such as love and duty, work and rest, and living
close to nature. There are not hothouse blossoms that
can compare in beauty and fragrance with my bouquet
of wildflowers.
-- Laura Ingalls Wilder
The
aspects of things that are most important to us are
hidden because of their simplicity and familiarity.
-- Prof. Ludwig Wittgenstein
"Think
simple" as my old master used to say - meaning
reduce the whole of its parts into the simplest
terms, getting back to first principles.”
-- Frank
Lloyd Wright
Material
blessings, when they pay beyond the category of need,
are weirdly fruitful of headache.
-- Philip Wylie
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 non-essentials.
-- Lin Yutang
