Timeless Simplicity Quotes

The industrialist was horrified to find the fisherman lying beside his boat, smoking a pipe. -  Why aren’t you fishing?, said the industrialist. -  Because I have caught enough fish for the day. -  Why don’t you catch some more? -  What would I do with them? -  Earn more money. Then you could have a motor fixed to your boat and go into deeper waters and catch more fish. That would bring you money to buy nylon nets, so more fish, more money. Soon you would have enough to buy two boats even a fleet of boats. Then you could be rich like me. - What would I do then? -  Then you could sit back and enjoy life. -  What do you think I’m doing now?

It is not things in themselves that trouble us, but our opinion of things,” he observed.

she danced with her own reflection, absorbed in a trance of morning light, a glowing impression, whose sheer beauty was pure and simply, her timeless simplicity

I delight to come to my bearings,—not walk in procession with pomp and parade, in a conspicuous place, but to walk even with the Builder of the universe, if I may,—not to live in this restless, nervous, bustling, trivial Nineteenth Century, but stand or sit thoughtfully while it goes by. What are men celebrating? They are all on a committee of arrangements, and hourly expect a speech from somebody. God is only the president of the day, and Webster is his orator. I love to weigh, to settle, to gravitate toward that which most strongly and rightfully attracts me;—not hang by the beam of the scale and try to weigh less,—not suppose a case, but take the case that is

The simplicity of mindfulness belies its profundity. It is the gateway to immortality. The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein said, “If by eternity is understood not endless temporal duration but timelessness, then he lives eternally who lives in the present.

All great discoveries in experimental physics have been due to the intuition of men who made free use of models, which were for them not products of the imagination but representatives of real things. Max Born (1953)

It is also to choose to live more mindfully. It is to have direct and wholehearted participation in life: the taste and touch of actual things; the experience of the moment; the delight inherent in creative doing. Lose the possibilities of such experiences and a sense of boredom can begin its subtle but insidious invasion of the human heart. It is then that we most feel the need to fill the vacuum with a consoling substitute: another dress, another computer game or holiday. It is not acquisitiveness but boredom which can lead to regular and compulsory shopping — ‘ retail therapy’ — as a relief from the lacuna of an unfulfilled life. My experience tells me that the

Rycca left her twin and went into Dragon's arms.From their safety, she watched as Wolf and Cymbra came into the hall.Wolf was carrying Lion and the three were laughing over something. Close behind came Hawk and Krysta, Falcon nestled in his father's arms. Smiling,they joined the others. The sun came out just then from behind a cloud and shining through the high windows filled the hall with a golden radiance.For just a moment,it seemed to Rycca that everything slowed down and very nearly stopped. A single mote of dust hung suspended before her eyes, whirling, dancing, revealing in its simplicity the miracle of a timeless moment made radiant by love and the peace it had wrought. Then Dragon lifted her hand and gently kissed it,and she felt his touch clear through to the very essence of her immortal self.Time moved on again, carrying them with it,yet she knew that for them there always would be the moment everlasting.Truly,blessed are the peacemakers. Darkness now descends but bright torches light the night just as love and the dream of peace will shine through all the years to come.Far into the future,the descendants of these three couples will themselves meet their own challenges,live their own adventures,and find their own enduring blessing in everlasting love.

Do not let the possibilities of laughter pass you by. Become lighter hearted; let go of too serious a vein. Laughter costs nothing, and can make others as well as yourself feel relaxed, feel companionable, feel good. To feel good is of more value than a room full of expensive possessions. “The more we lose the power to live,” writes Ivan Illich, “the greater we depend upon the goods we acquire.” The power to live exuberantly is inherent in a light-hearted touch which doesn’t take everything, however serious, too seriously.

while most readers recognize the profound wisdom imbued in Tao Te Ching, the language remains mysterious to many. Utter simplicity can seem confusing to the complicated mind.

Let’s go back to basics and remember that all we really have to do is put a roof over our heads and meals on the table. Beyond that our time can be better spent enjoying our lives, being with the people we love, creating things we love that don’t harm the earth, and contributing something meaningful to the world. ELAINE ST. JAMES

We are not the tree but one of its leaves; not the beach but one of its pebbles, not the sea but one of its waves. “It is no longer I that lives but life that lives in me.

Every year that I live here it is as though another of my personalities is left behind, like a variation in a Passacaglia, leaving me nearer the first and last plain theme. It is not only that as one grows older the passions and vanities fade, nor that the pressure of the present day obliges one to live an ever simpler life, to make and to do with one's own hands whatever is necessary, to be forever saying goodbye to civilization. It is rather that civilization has turned to shoddy, plastic and sham, has become a cage with bars of cliché, so that one must get out. Here on my island the years have opened like a rose in the sun, the fury of standardization has missed one little byway, and events have remained in their real dimension as reactions of the human heart, limitless, yet dependent on its fleeting pulse.

Radiant self-confidence is a big part of Frenchwomen's success. But perhaps what many of us don't realize is that pragmatism is also a crucial factor. Frenchwomen of a certain age are realists; realism is at the heart of all of their choices and actions. They accept that life is unpredictable, which makes it rife with both possibility and peril. It's best to be prepared at all times, inside and out. Their pragmatic nature makes them resilient on the one hand and flexible on the other. Growing older is not without obstacles, but Frenchwomen expect obstacles. Happily ever after does not exist in the real world, but beauty, substance, joy, culture, and the ability to accommodate and accept these realities can make for a rich, fulfilling life. Frenchwomen appreciate the beauty of simplicity, and they understand that the essence of luxury is always quality over quantity. They have constructed their unique styles with critical eye towards what works specifically for their personalities, their bodies, and their best features, and as the decades pass, they adjust and polish their images into nonchalant, uniquely personal expressions of timeless elegance.

Components of Elegant Attire 4.1.1 Simple lines and tailored design Clean lines and well-tailored silhouettes define classy clothing. Perfectly fitting clothing should highlight your body's natural proportions and give off an image of effortlessness. 4.1.2 A subdued color scheme A sophisticated wardrobe is built on neutral hues like black, white, navy, beige, and gray. These hues offer a flexible foundation on which you can create your chic combinations. 4.1.3 Classic Works Invest in classic pieces that will last a lifetime. The essentials of stylish clothing are a timeless trench coat, a tailored blazer, a little black dress, and well-fitted trousers. 3.1.4 Less is more and minimalism Decide on quality above quantity to embrace simplicity. Choose carefully chosen pieces for your capsule wardrobe that you can mix and match with ease.

Trends come and go; the simplicity of timeless meals with the ones you love is forever.

For 37signals, things like speed, simplicity, ease of use, and clarity are our focus. Those are timeless desires. People aren’t going to wake up in ten years and say, “Man, I wish software was harder to use.” They won’t say, “I wish this application was slower.

The overwhelmingly large number of investors should seek membership in the passive management club. This group, instead of scratching for a small edge in today’s extraordinarily efficient markets, wisely accepts what the markets deliver. Charley makes a compelling case for the market-matching strategy of investing in index funds, touting their simplicity, transparency, low cost, tax efficiency, and superior returns. Winning

Walden or Life in the Woods (1854), an account of his life at the Pond, is a classic of simple living. “Life! who know what it is, what it does?,” he asked himself on the Sunday after he moved in. The book is, as it were, the answer, and one that has helped popularize a simple-living aesthetic throughout the Western world.

You were born with a singular talent and a singular destiny, a singular character and a singular vocation. Discover it! Be it! or become it! Nothing else — not even the wealth of the richest man in Britain, Hans Rausing, who owned £5.6 billion in 2000 — will give you as much contentment as the knowledge that you are following the path of your character.

book Wild Hunger: The Primal Roots of Modern Addiction,16 the rejection of beauty, one of the ageless sources of regeneration, is at the root of much of the addiction which characterizes modern society. The wiser person seeks beauty in all things. He or she seeks to live a life that nourishes the soul, and “the depth of interiority and quality in which it flourishes”, as Thomas Moore writes. He or she discovers epiphanies in the contemplation of timeless realities, and seeks to move through the deep imagination, the royal road to the sacred.

When we are at peace with our environment we are at peace with ourselves.

Those with a fully developed sense of being alive and engaged in a lifelong task of collaboration with other human beings, are those who are most likely to be living an unfettered life, a simple life, and one in which there is time for people. Those who are harried and preoccupied by work, acquisition and the quest for success, are those most likely to have sacrificed family and friends.

Originating in a system of mass production which generates vast quantities of products which need to be sold, it is the marketeers’ ambition to make us feel dissatisfied with what we already possess, to make us feel that we’d be happier, or more attractive, if we went out to purchase one or more of their products. It is, of course, a message that we can with some difficulty always choose to ignore. But even if we do so, we should still be careful to watch our step. For it is one thing to reject the sirencall of a particular manufacturer, but another to avoid the corrosive blandishments of an entire culture hell-bent on retailing everything under the sun. That culture insidiously feeds our discontent, our restlessness and dissatisfaction. However many products we choose to buy, more never proves enough. However much we accumulate, there is always another higher level of dissatisfaction. The feeling of peaceful acceptance that our ancestors largely took for granted is now continuously undermined by a culture committed to mass marketing, mass consumption and mass media. It will almost certainly be further undermined by the advancing technologies, specifically robots, engineered organisms and nanobots, which could (supposedly) create a utopian future of abundance where just about anything could be made cheaply, almost any disease cured and physical problem solved.

Originating in a system of mass production which generates vast quantities of products which need to be sold, it is the marketeers’ ambition to make us feel dissatisfied with what we already possess, to make us feel that we’d be happier, or more attractive, if we went out to purchase one or more of their products. It is, of course, a message that we can with some difficulty always choose to ignore. But even if we do so, we should still be careful to watch our step. For it is one thing to reject the sirencall of a particular manufacturer, but another to avoid the corrosive blandishments of an entire culture hell-bent on retailing everything under the sun. That

largely took for granted is now continuously undermined by a culture committed to mass marketing, mass consumption and mass media.

The quintessential French outfit is suitable for any time or place. It is made up of timeless classics: a good-quality blazer, a simple dress, classic jeans, smart, comfortable shoes, and minimal jewellery. The key to dressing like une vraie parisienne is simplicity.

Here you have one of the top cancer researchers in the world, and he’s saying he could make a bigger impact on cancer if he focused on getting people to quit smoking—but that’s not intellectually stimulating enough for him. Or for many scientists, for that matter. Now, I don’t blame him—and Weinberg has added enormous value to the war on cancer. But here we have an example of complexity being favored for its excitement, when simplicity may actually do a better job. And that, I’ll tell you, is a big lesson that applies to many things.

The discovery that money cannot by its nature fill the vacuum created by the loss of meaning in your life is irreversible; it marks a turning point, and it will never disappear. It will haunt until its heartless, loveless ghost is laid.

To defend what we love is sanity; insanity is to continue to act with irresponsibility when a biological limit has been overrun, and with it the deepest human propriety. One-third of the world’s natural resources have already been expended, so it doesn’t take much effort to figure out that current levels of consumption are far from indefinitely sustainable.

The Great Work, the American ecologist Thomas Berry argues that it is our generation —

Founded in Athens in the early 3rd century BC by Zeno of Citium, Stoicism was especially influential in the Roman world of Seneca, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius. What mattered in life, it taught, was the virtuous state of the soul, not the circumstances of the outer life. Epictetus (c.50–c.138), following Zeno’s teaching, is reported to have said, “See, I have nothing; no shelter but the earth, the sky, and one poor cloak. Yet what do I lack?” Stoicism was the greatest moral force in the Graeco-Roman world when Christianity arose. Another

Epicurus (341–270 BC), author of an ethical philosophy of simple pleasure, friendship and retirement, taught in a garden.

It is better to have fewer wants than to have larger resources.

An occupation offered as a service is generally more fulfilling than one done solely for cash.

Simplifying a life means one and only one thing: cutting back on the less essential things and activities to allow more time and space for those which give a deeper nourishment and more fulfilling satisfaction

Every psychologist knows that self-realization cannot be achieved within lives overburdened by haste and clutter, the chains of unrewarding work and money worries.

Money, then, is a screen on to which we project our unconscious emotional life: our primal anxieties about future deprivation, cold and dearth, our miserliness and desire for power, as well as the goodness in our natures.

The Theory of the Leisure Class, coined the phrase ‘conspicuous consumption’ to describe the habit of buying expensive things to impress one’s neighbours. He argued that the rich were condemnable from an economic point of view, since they revelled in waste.

In some ways Duane Elgin’s Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life That is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich, published in 1981, was the first of these.

After a while, people take what they have for granted, and either want more or, when they reach saturation point, turn to the pursuit of other goals. . . . One’s subjective satisfaction with life reflects the gap between one’s aspiration and one’s perceived situation.

members of certain traditional, rural communities do enjoy a greater harmony and tranquillity than those settled in our modern cities. My impression is that those living in the materially developed countries, for all their industry, are in some ways less satisfied, are less happy, and to some extent suffer more than those living in the least developed countries. Indeed, if we compare the rich with the poor, it often seems that those with less are often less anxious. As for the rich . . . they are so caught up with the idea of acquiring more that they make no room for anything else in their lives. As a result, they are constantly plagued by mental and emotional suffering — even though outwardly they may appear to be leading entirely successful and comfortable lives. This is suggested by the disturbing prevalence among the populations of materially developed countries of anxiety, discontent, frustration, uncertainty, and depression.” 5 In considering these issues, I would like to devote this chapter to an examination of some of the factors that are inhibiting or preventing people from realizing their full potential and sensing fullness of being. Other contributory trends might have been included, and my picture is, of necessity, subjectively biased and incomplete. Nonetheless it must serve as a sampler of prevalent contemporary trends. For the sake of simplicity I have organized this chapter into four parts. Firstly I consider the fallacy that money can purchase happiness; second, the influence of living in a mass society; third, mass leisure and consumption; and finally, life in the cities. Of course no culture can be separated in this way; no single part can be considered in isolation from the rest. With the light come the shadows, and with everything

In a shipwreck one of the passengers fastened a belt about him with two hundred pounds of gold on it, with which he was afterwards found at the bottom. Now, as he was sinking — had he the gold? Or had the gold him”? JOHN RUSKIN

What we need and what we want are clearly not one and the same thing.

The idea that money is a primary cause of wellbeing distorts values, intentions and actions; at the same

The idea that money is a primary cause of wellbeing distorts values, intentions and actions; at the same time it corrupts the quest for a simpler life.

The more one has the more one wants. There is no limit to the expansion of sensory desires . . . PITIRIM SOROKIN12

For those who are skilled, industrious and ambitious, work does not dull their lives. It is a source not only of income but of significance and identity for people like surgeons, teachers, writers, masseurs, professional tennis players, jockeys, managers, actresses, gardeners, publicans, publishers, poets, footballers and craftsmen. The greatest number of these live active, creative and autonomous lives. They can develop, do better, excel; they feel inwardly rewarded by what they do, and by its value to others. For them, work is where life is now.

The psychologist Erich Fromm has something to say on this subject. “The average man today,” he writes, “may have a good deal of fun and pleasure, but in spite of this he is fundamentally depressed. Perhaps it clarifies the issue if instead of using the word ‘depressed’ we use the word ‘bored’. Actually there is little difference between the two, except a difference in degree, because boredom is nothing but the experience of a paralysis of our productive powers and the sense of un-aliveness. Among the evils of life, there are few which are as painful as boredom, and consequently every attempt is made to avoid it.

For youth culture, with its emphasis on clothes and love of fashion, music, computers and sport, is not about acquisition but culture as commodity: what you are is defined by what you wear, and apparel becomes a species of ideology.

In other centuries, human beings wanted to be saved, or improved, or freed, or educated. But in our century, they want to be entertained. The great fear is not of disease or death, but of boredom. A sense of time on our hands, a sense of nothing to do. A sense that we are not amused. MICHAEL CRICHTON

They teach that an over-complicated, over-stimulated life and too much haste congest the day, distract attention, dissipate energies and weaken our ability to find space for inner peace.

In its place they urge consideration of an alternative path: a mindful, unhurried, intentional and appreciative approach to living.

If you have somehow failed to figure out your special gift, or maybe failed to break through the cultural barriers that prevent its realization, have no fear. Have the courage of those who have already done so, and take your life in your hands.

There’s a kind of insanity in continuing to waste yourself, suffering long unproductive years for the sake of commitments you entered into at a younger age and which you are now too busy working (and commuting) to enjoy.

Work that fails to bring life and livelihood together is out of gear.9 And if it is out of gear for many today, does it always have to be

Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind,

what provides us with a permanent sense of well-being, and what gives only transitory pleasure.

Temperantia means knowing when enough is enough.

In other words, what happens to us does not necessarily produce contentment or unhappiness; rather, the state of contentment or unhappiness comes from how we perceive and interpret these occurrences.

This reaction can in its turn determine the next stage in the karmic cycle of events — what we decide to do, and the spirit in which we do it. Life, then, is to a large extent in our own hands. One of the Confucian ideals is that “the archer, when he misses the bullseye, turns and seeks the cause of the error in himself.

Responding in an open and flexible manner is the key to an increased understanding of others. Responding with the heart rather than the head is the key to love. Responding to life with a positive attitude is the key to enthusiasm and creativity. Responding with an aggressive, blaming, resentful approach induces depression and, in the final analysis, misery and self-hatred.

The great legacy of the past is its slowness, its patience, its human scale, its measured human pace and undisturbed quietness. These remain the sanest objectives of anyone seeking to simplify.

But individuals preoccupied with comparing themselves with others, and never prioritizing what they actually want, are in danger of living a falsehood.

also pushes us to inflate; to be puffed up with expectations, to be something bigger than we are, to imagine we are an eagle when our destiny lies with the larks.

Complexity gives a comforting impression of control, while simplicity is hard to distinguish from cluelessness.

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