Selected simplicity quotes

1. I am a simple Buddhist monk - no more, no less.

2. This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.

3. Simplicity does not precede complexity, but follows it.

4. If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor.

5. You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.

6. Everything deep is also simple and can be reproduced simply as long as its reference to the whole truth is maintained. But what matters is not what is witty but what is true.

7. From naive simplicity we arrive at more profound simplicity.

8. It is simplicity that makes the uneducated more effective than the educated when addressing popular audiences.

9. Life can be very deep, but I'm trying to stay at the shallow end.

10. It's all very simple, or else it's all very complex, or perhaps it's neither, or both.

11. The truth needs so little rehearsal.

12. In a logically perfect language, there will be one word and no more for every simple object, and everything that is not simple will be expressed by a combination of words, by a combination derived, of course, from the words for the simple things that enter in, one word for each simple component.

13. I drive a jeep. An old jeep, so nobody will say I'm driving a BMW anymore. I couldn't stand that BMW, ha ha ha! BMW make pure trouble!

14. All I want to do, ever, is play chess.

15. Out of chaos, find simplicity, From discord, find harmony.

16. Simplicity is the key to brilliance.

17. Take things as they are. Punch when you have to punch. Kick when you have to kick.

18. To me, the extraordinary aspect of martial arts lies in its simplicity. The easy way is also the right way, and martial arts is nothing at all special; the closer to the true way of martial arts, the less wastage of expression there is.

19. A great part of its theories derives an additional charm from the peculiarity that important propositions, with the impress of simplicity on them, are often easily discovered by induction, and yet are of so profound a character that we cannot find the demonstrations till after many vain attempts; and even then, when we do succeed, it is often by some tedious and artificial process, while the simple methods may long remain concealed.

20. I revere the memory of Mr. F. as an estimable man and most indulgent husband, only necessary to mention Asparagus and it appeared or to hint at any little delicate thing to drink and it came like magic in a pint bottle; it was not ecstasy but it was comfort.

21. Paradoxically, the simpler poetry is, the more difficult it becomes for a critic to discuss intelligently. Trained to explicate, the critic often loses the ability to evaluate literature outside the critical act. A work is good only in proportion to the richness and complexity of interpretations it provokes.

22. I'm an instant star. Just add water and stir.

23. I'd sooner exchange ideas with the birds on earth than learn to carry on intergalactic communications with some obscure race of humanoids on a satellite planet from the world of Betelgeuse.

24. It is not at all simple to understand the simple.

25. When struck by a thunderbolt it is unnecessary to consult the Book of Dates as to the precise meaning of the omen.

26. Perfect beauty implies perfect simplicity, a quality that at first sight does not arouse the emotions which we feel before gigantic works, objects whose very disproportion constitutes an element of beauty.

27. Simplicity is a great element of good breeding.

28. Less is only more where more is no good.

29. Organic architecture seeks superior sense of use and a finer sense of comfort, expressed in organic simplicity.

30. Oh, rather give me commentators plain, Who with no deep researches vex the brain; Who from the dark and doubtful love to run, And hold their glimmering tapers to the sun.

31. Perfect simplicity is unconsciously audacious.

32. My manner of living is plain and I do not mean to be put out of it. A glass of wine and a bit of mutton are always ready.

33. I like a thing simple but it must be simple through complication. Everything must come into your scheme, otherwise you cannot achieve real simplicity.

34. Fishing is much more than fish. It is the great occasion when we may return to the fine simplicity of our forefathers.

35. The public mind [is] a cloudy region where only the simplest shapes are discerned with any accuracy.

36. The greatest artists have never been men of taste. By never sophisticating their instincts they have never lost the awareness of the great simplicities, which they relish both from appetite and from the challenge these offer to skill in competition with popular art.

37. The ideal college is Mark Hopkins on one end of a log and a student on the other.

38. Dear common flower, that grow'st beside the way, Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold, First pledge of blithesome May, Which children pluck, and, full of pride uphold.

39. To win the secret of a weed's plain heart.

40. Some men enjoy the constant strife Of days with work and worry rife, But that is not my dream of life: I think such men are crazy. For me, a life with worries few, A job of nothing much to do, Just pelf enough to see me through: I fear that I am lazy.

41. I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck.

42. Il suffit quelquefois d'etre grossier pour n'etre pas trompe par un habile homme.

43. Thoughts are the shadows of our feelings - always darker, emptier, simpler.

44. 'Leib bin ich und Seele'-so redet das Kind. Und warum sollte man nicht wie die Kinder reden?

45. Simplicity belonged by right to those who were native-born, those who could take the conditions of life, however bizarre, for granted.

46. Simplicity is the most deceitful mistress that ever betrayed man.

47. Aeschylus had a clear eye for the commonest things. His genius was only an enlarged common sense. He adverts with chaste severity to all natural facts. His sublimity is Greek sincerity and simpleness, naked wonder which mythology had not helped to explain... Whatever the common eye sees at all and expresses as best it may, he sees uncommonly and describes with rare completeness. The multitude that thronged the theatre could no doubt go along with him to the end... The social condition of genius is the same in all ages. Aeschylus was undoubtedly alone and without sympathy in his simple reverence for the mystery of the universe.

48. That man is richest whose pleasures are the cheapest.

49. You must love the crust of the earth on which you dwell more than the sweet crust of any bread or cake; you must be able to extract nutriment out of a sand heap.

50. In art economy is always beauty.

51. From quiet homes and first beginning, Out to the undiscovered ends, There's nothing worth the wear of winning, But laughter and the love of friends.

52. 'Composers combine notes, that's all.'

53. Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.

54. It is the perfection of God's works that they are all done with the greatest simplicity. He is the God of order and not of confusion. And therefore as they would understand the frame of the world must endeavor to reduce their knowledge to all possible simplicity, so must it be in seeking to understand these visions.

55. I like to ride in trains too much. You never get to sit next to the window anymore when you're married.

56. Please accept from me this unpretentious bouquet of very early-blooming parentheses: (((()))).

57. Whereas most other modern composers are engaged in manufacturing cocktails of every hue and description, I offer the public pure cold water.

58. Ez soshubble ez a baskit er kittens.

59. Everything is simpler than you think and at the same time more complex than you imagine.

60. As well a well-wrought urn becomes The greatest ashes, as half-acre tombs.

61. Come live with me, and be my love, And we will some new pleasures prove Of golden sands, and crystal brooks, With silken lines, and silver hooks.

62. It's been very good to me, this country. It's been welcoming, and it's given me what I've always wanted - a really cool, simple life. (2003)

63. There are certain elements of boyhood we can't escape. And farts will always be funny. (2004)

64. I'm an old-fashioned guy. I want to be an old man with a beer belly sitting on a porch looking at a lake or something. (1999)

65. All the glory in the world fits in a kernel of corn.

66. 'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free, 'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be, And when we find ourselves in the place just right, 'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

67. When true simplicity is gain'd To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd, To turn, turn will be our delight 'Till by turning, turning we come round right.

68. Everyone agreed that this is a song all Americans should be able to sing. It was a hands-down favorite among teachers. And I've talked with kids in elementary and high schools about it, too. Any youngster can tell you what this song means: Simplicity is sometimes better than complexity, and we shouldn't take ourselves too seriously.

69. Acting is one of the lesser skills man can possess. Honestly, Shirley Temple was doing it when she was four years old!

70. [Melua] makes music that's easy on the ear and even easier on the brain. She's the perfect good girl in the middle of the road. I'm not keen to make things too easy for anyone.

71. Be plain in dress, and sober in your diet; In short, my deary, kiss me, and be quiet.

72. 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.

73. I don't need a lot of money. Simplicity is the answer for me.

74. I had daydreams and fantasies when I was growing up. I always wanted to live in a log cabin at the foot of a mountain. I would ride my horse to town and pick up provisions. Then return to the cabin, with a big open fire, a record player and peace.

75. But ordinary language is all right. (p. 28)

76. The aspects of things that are most important for us are hidden because of their simplicity and familiarity. (One is unable to notice something - because it is always before one's eyes.) The real foundations of his enquiry do not strike a man at all. Unless that fact has at some time struck him. - And this means: we fail to be struck by what, once seen, is most striking and most powerful. (129)

77. Never stay up on the barren heights of cleverness, but come down into the green valleys of silliness. (p. 76e)

78. For I am a bear of very little brain and long words bother me.

79. Wir sein pettler. Hoc est verum.

80. Je veux que la mort me trouve plantant mes choux.

81. Parce que c'etait lui; parce que c'etait moi.

82. I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly.

83. Water, air, and cleanness are the chief articles in my pharmacy.

84. Think of it: the lowest common denominator in being digital is not your operating system, modem, or model of computer. It's a tiny piece of plastic, designed decades ago by Bell Labs' Charles Krumreich, Edwin Hardesty, and company, who thought they were making an inconspicuous plug for a few telephone handsets. Not in their wildest dreams was Registered Jack 11 - a modular connector more commonly known as the RJ-11 - meant to be plugged and unplugged so many times, by so many people, for so many reasons, all over the world.

85. What is the world at its best but a little round field of the moving pictures with two walking together in it?

86. It was beautiful and simple as all truly great swindles are.

87. Man wants but little here below, Nor wants that little long.

88. The whitewashed wall, the nicely sanded floor, The varnished clock that clicked behind the door; The chest contrived a double debt to pay, A bed by night, a chest of drawers by day.

89. To me more dear, congenial to my heart, One native charm, than all the gloss of art.

90. Most modern calendars mar the sweet simplicity of our lives by reminding us that each day that passes is the anniversary of some perfectly uninteresting event.

91. I have but the simplest taste - I am always satisfied with the best.

92. I've had this TV for 7 years, this is how it works. Power on - it comes on. Simple clicker, volume control - piece of piss. Works every time.... what the fuck's this? What am I doing? JACK!!

93. Me gusta vivir pobre... pero con mucho dinero.

94. It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.

95. Art is the elimination of the unnecessary.

96. Crazy people do not apply the principle of scientific parsimony... they shoot for the baroque.

97. I'm not trying to turn you into a bourgeois, Naomi. If the bed is too luxurious, we can do it on the floor.

98. If you get simple beauty and naught else, You get about the best thing God invents.

99. Wealth I ask not, hope nor love, Nor a friend to know me; All I ask, the heaven above And the road below me.

100. 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.