Last Updated: December 19, 2022 by Quote.cc Team
Simplicity is defined as something being ordinary, traditional, natural, and not complicated. The value of clarity has been known for centuries. Its importance has been understood by the best and the brightest throughout history. Simplicity aids understanding; it allows us to focus better. It increases belief and builds confidence.
The most important thing I’ve learned about simplicity is that simplicity wins in the long run. Simple is stickier than complex, and it survives. It has inspired artists, poets, philosophers, visionaries, and leaders with time.
Simplicity is sometimes elusive but almost always present. Sometimes you need to know where to look for it or how to look for it. Luckily, the sages of the ages have shared lots of thoughts on simplicity in the form of quotes we can borrow and build on. That’s why we love Simplicity quotes. They are simple and straight to the point and can help you shift your life perspective. May these quotes inspire you to live a life of simplicity so that you live your dreams.
250 Simplicity Quotes That Will Transform Your Life
Top 10 Simplicity Quotes
“Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein
“Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.” – Isaac Newton
“I have three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.” – Lao Tzu
“The most complicated skill is to be simple.” – Dejan Stojanovic
“With wisdom comes the desire for simplicity.” – Brendon Burchard
“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.” – Hans Hofmann
“Out of chaos, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony.” – Bruce Lee
“A vocabulary of truth and simplicity will be of service throughout your life.” – Winston Churchill
“Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say let your affairs be as one, two, three and to a hundred or a thousand… We are happy in proportion to the things we can do without.” – Henry David Thoreau
“That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” – Steve Jobs
What Is Simplicity?
“In simplicity there is truth.” – River Phoenix
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci
“Simplicity is the trademark of genius.” – Robin Sharma
“Simplicity is the soul of efficiency.” – Austin Freeman
“Simplicity is the peak of civilization.” – Jessie Sampter
“Simplicity is the outcome of technical subtlety. It is the goal, not the starting point.” – Maurice Saatchi
“Simplicity is the only thing that sufficiently reorients our lives so that possessions can be genuinely enjoyed without destroying us.” – Richard Foster
“Simplicity is the nature of great souls.” – Papa Ramadas
“Simplicity is the most difficult thing to secure in this world; it is the last limit of experience and the last effort of genius.” – George Sand
“Simplicity is the key.” – Ritchie Blackmore
“Simplicity is the key to brilliance.” – Bruce Lee
“Simplicity is the glory of expression.” – Walt Whitman
“Simplicity is the friend of execution.” – Sesan Kareem
“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
“Simplicity is the essence of happiness.” – Cedric Bledsoe
“Simplicity is the end result of long, hard work, not the starting point.” – Frederick Maitland
“Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability.” – Edsger Dijkstra
“Simplicity is not the goal. It is the by-product of a good idea and modest expectations.” – Paul Rand
“Simplicity is not the absence of clutter, that’s a consequence of simplicity. Simplicity is somehow essentially describing the purpose and place of an object and product. The absence of clutter is just a clutter-free product. That’s not simple.” – Jonathan Ive
“Simplicity is not style, it is a state of harmony.” – Naoto Fukasawa
“Simplicity is not an objective in art, but one achieves simplicity despite one’s self by entering into the real sense of things.” – Constantin Brancusi
“Simplicity is not about deprivation. Simplicity is about a greater appreciation for things that really matter.”
“Simplicity is natures first step, and the last of art.” – Philip James Bailey
“Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough.” – Charles Dudley Warner
“Simplicity is indeed often the sign of truth and a criterion of beauty.” – Mahlon Hoagland
“Simplicity is hard to build, easy to use, and hard to charge for. Complexity is easy to build, hard to use, and easy to charge for.” – Chris Sacca
“Simplicity is an exact medium between too little and too much.” – Joshua Reynold
“Simplicity is an acquired taste. Mankind, left free, instinctively complicates life.” – Katharine Elizabeth Fullerton Gerould
“Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful.” – John Maeda
“Simplicity is a state of mind.” – Charles Wagner
“Simplicity is a prerequisite for reliability.” – Edsger Dijkstra
“Simplicity is a most complex form.” – Duke Ellington
“Simplicity is a key to avoiding complication. Part of the definition of simplicity is ‘not complex or complicated; sincere’.” – Joyce Meyer
“Simplicity is a great virtue but it requires hard work to achieve it and education to appreciate it. And to make matters worse: complexity sells better.” – Edsger W. Dijkstra
“Simplicity is a choice, a discrimination, a crystallization. Its object is purity.” – Le Corbusier
“True simplicity is, well, you just keep on going and going until you get to the point where you go, ‘Yeah, well, of course.’ Where there’s no rational alternative.” – Jonathan Ive
“Simplicity boils down to two steps: Identify the essential. Eliminate the rest.” – Leo Babauta
“Simplicity before understanding is simplistic; simplicity after understanding is simple.” – Edward de Bono
“Simplicity and repose are the qualities that measure the true value of any work of art.” – Frank Lloyd Wright
“Simplicity and naturalness are the truest marks of distinction.” – W. Somerset Maugham
“Simplicity and harmony are the ultimate conditions to be attained in all things.” – Horace Fletcher
“Simplicity does not mean want or poverty. It does not mean the absence of any decor, or absolute nudity. It only means that the decor should belong intimately to the design proper, and that anything foreign to it should be taken away.” – Paul Jacques Grillo
“Simplicity in character, in manners, in style; in all things the supreme excellence is simplicity.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“One of the biggest accelerators to change is simplicity.” – Dr Henry Cloud
“Purity and simplicity are the two wings with which man soars above the earth and all temporary nature.” – Thomas Kempis
“There is a certain majesty in simplicity which is far above all the quaintness of wit.” – Alexander Pope
Short Simplicity Quotes
“Keep things simple.”
“Simplicity makes me happy.” – Alicia Keys
“In everything, love simplicity.” – Saint Francis De Sales
“I like simplicity; I don’t need luxury.” – Francis Ford Coppola
“I always go for simplicity.” – David Bailey
“Be modest, humble, simple. Control your anger.” – Abraham Cahan
“Anything simple always interests me.” – David Hockney
“’No’ is a complete sentence.” – Anne Lamott
“Complexity is impressive, but simplicity is genius.” – Lance Wallnau
“Complexity creates confusion, simplicity focus.” – Edward de Bono
“Complex things are easy to do. Simplicity’s the real challenge.” – Robert James Waller
“Complexity means distracted effort. Simplicity means focused effort.” – Edward de Bono
“Discovery is the ability to be puzzled by simple things.” – Noam Chomsky
“Expert: Someone who brings confusion to simplicity.” – Gregory Nunn
“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” – Albert Einstein
“Growth creates complexity, which requires simplicity.” – Andy Stanley
“I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.” – Oscar Wilde
“It is always the simple that produces the marvelous.” – Amelia Barr
“It takes a long time to learn how to do something simple.” – Marty Rubin
“It is the essence of genius to make use of the simplest ideas.” – Charles Péguy
“Make it simple but significant.”
“When things get tough, come back to the simple.” – Quotes by quote.cc
“Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.” – Albert Einstein
“Simple is hard. Easy is harder. Invisible is hardest.” – Jean-Louis Gassée
“Simple truths are a relief from grand speculations.” – Vauvenargues
“Simple pleasures are the last healthy refuge in a complex world.” – Oscar Wilde
“Simplicity compounds. Complexity zeros out.” – Shane Parrish
“Simplicity does not precede complexity, but follows it.” – Alan Perlis
“Simplicity will stand out, while complexity will get lost in the crowd.” – Kevin Barnett
“Simplicity should not be identified with bareness.” – Felix Adler
“Simplicity of character is the natural result of profound thought.” – William Hazlitt
“Simplicity of character is no hindrance to the subtlety of intellect.” – John Morley
“Nature is pleased with simplicity. And nature is no dummy.” – Isaac Newton
“Never overlook the power of simplicity.” – Robin Sharma
“Nothing is as simple as we hope it will be.” – Jim Horning
“Nothing is true, but that which is simple.” – Johann Wolfgang
“One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.” – Jack Kerouac
“Of manners gentle, of affections mild; In wit a man, simplicity a child.” – Alexander Pope
“Only great minds can afford a simple style.” – Stendhal
“Order and simplification are the first steps toward the mastery of a subject.” – Thomas Mann
“Out of intense complexities intense simplicities emerge.” – Winston Churchill
“Progress is man’s ability to complicate simplicity.” – Thor Heyerdahl
“Progress is in simplification, which often follows complexity.” – Pearl Zhu
“Seek simplicity but distrust it.” – Alfred North Whitehead
“Success is simple. Do what’s right, the right way, at the right time.” – Arnold Glasow
“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.” – Dr. Seuss
“Simply the thing that I am shall make me live.” – William Shakespeare
“Simplify, then add lightness.” – Colin Chapman
“The evolution of knowledge is toward simplicity, not complexity.” – L. Ron Hubbard
“The expression of truth is simplicity.” – Seneca
“The height of sophistication is simplicity.” – Clare Boothe Luce
“The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity.” – Bruce Lee
“The greatest truths are the simplest: so likewise are the greatest men.” – Augustus William Hare
“The greatest ideas are the simplest.” – William Golding
“The great seal of truth is simplicity.” – Herman Boerhaave
“The great artist and thinker are the simplifiers.” – Henri Frederic Amiel
“The more simple we are, the more complete we become.” – August Rodin
“The pure and simple truth is rarely pure, and never simple.” – Oscar Wilde
“The simplest things give me ideas.” – Joan Miro
“The simplest things are often the truest.” – Richard Bach
“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” – Oscar Wilde
“To simplify complications is the first essential of success.” – George Earle Buckle
“We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.” – Mother Teresa
“We struggle with the complexities and avoid the simplicities.” – Norman Vincent Peale
Best Simplicity Quotes
“Nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed, to be simple is to be great.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Do not beat around the bush. Do not take winding detours. Follow a straight line to the objective; simplicity is the shortest distance between two points.” – Bruce Lee
“I don’t need a lot of money. Simplicity is the answer for me.” – Linda McCartney
“Mental toughness is many things. It is humility because it behooves all of us to remember that simplicity is the sign of greatness and meekness is the sign of true strength.” – Vince Lombardi
“People often associate complexity with deeper meaning, when often after precious time has been lost, it is realized that simplicity is the key to everything.” – Gary Hopkins
“When the subject is strong, simplicity is the only way to treat it.” – Jacob Lawrence
“’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
“A little simplification would be the first step toward rational living, I think” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“A taste for simplicity cannot last for long.” – Eugene Delacroix
“All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.” – Winston Churchill
“Almost all quality improvement comes via simplification of design, manufacturing, layout, processes, and procedures.” – Tom Peters
“Complexity is your enemy. Any fool can make something complicated. It is hard to make something simple.” – Richard Branson
“Everything is both simpler than we can imagine, and more complicated that we can conceive.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Fishing is much more than fish. It is the great occasion when we may return to the fine simplicity of our forefathers.” – Herbert Hoover
“Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand.” – General Colin Powell
“Guided only by their feeling for symmetry, simplicity, and generality, and an indefinable sense of the fitness of things, creative mathematicians now, as in the past, are inspired by the art of mathematics rather than by any prospect of ultimate usefulness.” – E. T. Bell
“I do not think that any civilization can be called complete until it has progressed from sophistication to unsophistication, and made a conscious return to simplicity of thinking and living.” – Lin Yutang
“I have a simple philosophy. Fill what’s empty. Empty what’s full. And scratch where it itches.” – Alice Roosevelt Longworth
“I have to remind myself to live simply and not overindulge, which is a constant battle in a material world.” – Sandra Cisneros
“In zen, poverty is voluntary, and considered not really as poverty so much as simplicity, freedom, unclutteredness.” – Alan Watts
“It is simplicity that makes the uneducated more effective than the educated when addressing popular audiences.” – Aristotle
“Knowledge is a process of piling up facts; wisdom lies in their simplification.” – Martin H. Fischer
“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.” – Charles Mingus
“Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires.” – Lao Tzu
“More good has been accomplished by simple people seeking their own honest ends than by all the philanthropists in history.” – Robert Brault
“Most of the fundamental ideas of science are essentially simple, and may, as a rule, be expressed in a language comprehensible to everyone.” – Albert Einstein
“Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.” – Steve Jobs
“Never again will I make the simple into the complex. Something of true value does not become more valuable because it becomes complicated. Experience and conditions come and go; complications arise and fall away, but the simple action of God is eternal in the universe.” – Donald Curtis
“Nobility of spirit has more to do with simplicity than ostentation, wisdom rather than wealth, commitment rather than ambition.” – Riccardo Muti
“simplistic” should realize that the truth is often not very complicated. What gets complex is evading the truth.” – Thomas Sowell
“Simplicity, clarity, singleness: These are the attributes that give our lives power and vividness and joy as they are also the marks of great art.” – Richard Holloway
“The main purpose of science is simplicity and as we understand more things, everything is becoming simpler.” – Edward Teller
“The more we simplify our material needs the more we are free to think of other things.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“The role of genius is not to complicate the simple, but to simplify the complicated.” – Criss Jami
“The spirit’s foe in man has not been simplicity, but sophistication.” – George Santayana
“There is a simplicity that exists on the far side of complexity, and there is a communication of sentiment and attitude not to be discovered by careful exegesis of a text.” – Patrick Buchanan
“Things are never as complicated as they seem. It is only our arrogance that prompts us to find unnecessarily complicated answers to simple problems.” – Muhammad Yunus
“Understanding reduces the greatest to simplicity, and lack of it causes the least to take on the magnitude.” – Raymond Holliwell
“Very often, people confuse simple with simplistic. The nuance is lost on most.” – Clement Mok
“We have one hardware organization. We have one software organization. It’s not like we’re this big company with all these divisions that are cranking out products. We’re simpletons.” – Tim Cook
“When thought is too weak to be simply expressed, it’s clear proof that it should be rejected.” – Luc De Clapiers
“Writing is no trouble: you just jot down ideas as they occur to you. The jotting is simplicity itself – it is the occurring which is difficult.” – Stephen Leacock
Simplicity Quotes For Girls
“Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.” – Coco Chanel
“I’ve always liked simplicity.” – Marissa Mayer
“Everything is complex and everything is simple. The rose has no why attached to it, it blooms because it blooms, how no thought of itself, or desire to be seen. What could be more complicated than a rose for someone who wants to understand it? What could be simpler for someone who wants nothing? The complexity of thinking, the simplicity of beholding.” – Andre Comte-Sponville
“No simplicity of mind, no obscurity of station, can escape the universal duty of questioning all that we believe.” – William Kingdon Clifford
“The art of simplicity is a puzzle of complexity.” – Douglas Horton
“Live simply. Dream big. Be grateful. Give love. Laugh lots.”
“In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth.” – Leo Tolstoy
“Live simply, so that others may simply live.” – Mother Theresa
“Nature teaches us simplicity and contentment because in its presence we realize we need very little to be happy.” – Mark Coleman
“Nature is what we know – Yet have not art to say – So impotent our wisdom is To her simplicity” – Emily Dickinson
“The art of art, the glory of expression, and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity.” – Walt Whitman
“The ordinary arts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.” – Thomas More
“The greatest step towards a life of simplicity is to learn to let go.” – Steve Maraboli
Simplicity is Beauty Quotes
“There is beauty in simplicity.”
“Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.” – Anne Frank
“There is beauty, heartbreaking beauty, everywhere.” – Edward Abbey
“The things you wear don’t make you beautiful; they accentuate the beauty that’s already there.” – Colin Wright,
“The core of beauty is simplicity” – Paulo Coelho
“The architect should strive continually to simplify; the ensemble of the rooms should then be carefully considered that comfort and utility may go hand in hand with beauty.” – Bruce Lee
“Some of the greatest poetry is revealing to the reader the beauty in something that was so simple you had taken it for granted.” – Neil Degrasse Tyson
“Simplicity reveals the pure beauty of life.” – Debasish Mridha
“Peace is the beauty of life. It is sunshine. It is the smile of a child, the love of a mother, the joy of a father, the togetherness of a family. It is the advancement of man, the victory of a just cause, the triumph of truth.” – Menachem Begin
“Grandeur and beauty are so very opposite, that you often diminish the one as you increase the other. Variety is most akin to the latter, simplicity to the former.” – William Shenstone
“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” – Confucius
“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.” – Marcus Aurelius
“Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicity.” – Plato
“Beauty is power; a smile is its sword.” – John Ray
“Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.” – Franz Kafka
“A person with taste is merely one who can recognize the greatest beauty in the simplest things.” – Barbara Taylor Bradford
“As beautiful as simplicity is, it can become a tradition that stands in the way of exploration.” – Laura Nyro
“As I grew older, I realized that it was much better to insist on the genuine forms of nature, for simplicity is the greatest adornment of art.” – Albrecht Durer
“Every solution to every problem is simple. It’s the distance between the two where the mystery lies.” – Derek Landy
“Find joy in simplicity, self-respect, and indifference to what lies between virtue and vice. Love the human race. Follow the divine.” – Marcus Aurelius
Simplicity And Humility Quotes
“When there’s nothing but humility, there’s nothing but spiritual oneness.” – Frederick Lenz
“True humility is contentment.” – Henri Frederic Amiel
“The only way you will advance spiritually is through humility.” – Frederick Lenz
“Serenity, regularity, absence of vanity, sincerity, simplicity, veracity, equanimity, Fixity, non-irritability, adaptability, Humility, tenacity, integrity, nobility, magnanimity, charity, generosity, purity. Practise daily these eighteen “ities” You will soon attain immortality.” – Socrates
“Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real.” – Thomas Merton
“Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right.” – Ezra Taft Benson
“Pride divides the men, humility joins them.” – Socrates
“I believe the first test of a truly great man is in his humility.” – John Ruskin
“He that places himself neither higher nor lower than he ought to do exercises the truest humility.” – Charles Caleb Colton
“Forget popularity. Just do your thing with passion, humility and honesty.” – Marc and Angel
“A child of five could understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five.” – Groucho Marx
“But I deal with this meditating and by understanding I’ve been put on the planet to serve humanity. I have to remind myself to live simply and not to overindulge, which is a constant battle in a material world.” – Sandra Cisneros
“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
“What’s really important is to simplify. The work of most photographers would be improved immensely if they could do one thing: get rid of the extraneous. If you strive for simplicity, you are more likely to reach the viewer.” – William Albert Allard
See also: 200 Awesome Quotes on Humility
Simplicity And Elegance Quotes
“True elegance for me is the manifestation of an independent mind.” – Isabella Rossellini
“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
“Simplicity, carried to an an extreme, becomes elegance.” – Jon Franklin
“Real elegance is simply a true encounter with oneself.” – Carole Bouquet
“I feel that my environment reflects my belief in the grace and art and elegance of living simply.” – bell hooks
“I believe that the Apple Shuffle is an excellent compromise among the conflicting requirements of simplicity, elegance, size, battery life, and function.” – Donald Norman
“Elegance means appreciating things as they are. There is a sense of delight and of fearlessness.” – Chogyam Trungpa
“Elegance is refusal.” – Coco Chanel
“Elegance is elimination.” – Cristobal Balenciaga
“Elegance is achieved when all that is superfluous has been discarded and the human being discovers simplicity and concentration: the simpler and more sober the posture, the more beautiful it will be.” – Paulo Coelho
“Adornment, what a science! Beauty, what a weapon! Modesty, what elegance!” – Coco Chanel
“Enjoy the simple, the natural and the plain. Along with that comes the ability to do things spontaneously and have them work.” – Benjamin Hoff
“Greatness of spirit is accompanied by simplicity and sincerity.” – Aristotle
Simplicity Of Life Quotes
“Simple living doesn’t solve all my problems, it just removes distractions.” – Melissa Camara Wilkins
“I wish I had invented blue jeans. They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity – all I hope for in my clothes.” – Yves Saint Laurent
“I take a simple view of living. It is, keep your eyes open and get on with it.” – Sir Laurence Olivier
“I just like simplicity. I like simple songs, I like simple chords, simple vocals, simple lead guitar. I just like simplicity. That’s just the way I like it.” – Jeremy Spencer
“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 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
“The simplification of life is one of the steps to inner peace.” – Mildred Norman
“The guiding motto in the life of every natural philosopher should be, Seek simplicity and distrust it.” – Alfred North Whitehead
“Simplify your life. You don’t grow spiritual, you shrink spiritual.” – Steve Maraboli
“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
“Our life is frittered away by detail… Simplify, simplify.” – Henry 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
“Live a life of simplicity so that you may live a life of greatness.” – ATGW
“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” – Confucius
“Life is beautiful in its simplicity.” – Thomas Matthiessen
“It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.” – Laura Ingalls Wilder
“I’ve heard my teacher say, where there are machines, there are bound to be machine worries; where there are machine worries, there are bound to be machine hearts. With a machine heart in your breast, you’ve spoiled what was pure and simple; and without the pure and simple, the life of the spirit knows no rest.” – Zhuangzi
“I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes
“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
“I do believe in simplicity. It is astonishing as well as sad, how many trivial affairs even the wisest thinks he must attend to in a day; how singular an affair he thinks he must omit. When the mathematician would solve a difficult problem, he first frees the equation of all incumbrances, and reduces it to its simplest terms. So simplify the problem of life, distinguish the necessary and the real. Probe the earth to see where your main roots run.” – Henry David Thoreau
“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.” – Laura Ingalls Wilder
“I am strongly drawn to the simple life and am often oppressed by the feeling that I am engrossing an unnecessary amount of the labor of my fellow. I regard class differences as contrary to justice and, in the last resort, based on force. I also consider that plain living is good for everybody, physically and mentally.” – Albert Einstein
“I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things in life which are the real ones after all.” – Laura Ingalls Wilder
“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
“As we live and as we are, Simplicity – with a capital ‘S’ – is difficult to comprehend nowadays. We are no longer truly simple. We no longer live in simple terms or places. Life is a complex struggle now. It is now valiant to be simple: a courageous thing to even want to be simple. It is a spiritual thing to comprehend what simplicity means.” – Frank Lloyd Wright
“A simple life is not seeing how little we can get by with—that’s poverty—but how efficiently we can put first things first.” – Victoria Moran
“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
“Man is an over-complicated organism. If he is doomed to extinction he will die out for want of simplicity.” – Ezra Pound
“Our joy comes from living our own lives simply – never from demanding that others live simply or from ever making any demands whatsoever upon others.” – Jonathan Lockwood Huie
“The point of simple living, for me, has got to be: a soft place to land, a wide margin for error, room to breathe, lots of places to find baseline happiness in each and every day.” – Leo Babauta
“The trouble with simple living is that, though it can be joyful, rich, and creative, it isn’t simple.” – Doris Janzen Longacre
“Unnecessary possessions are unnecessary burdens. If you have them, you have to take care of them! There is great freedom in simplicity of living. It is those who have enough but not too much who are the happiest.” – Peace Pilgrim
Conclusion
What did you learn from these simplicity quotes? I hope you found these simplicity quotes as inspiring as I did. I’d love to hear your quotes on simplicity in the comments below.