Quotes about simple life to inspire you to pursue a simpler, calmer and more balanced lifestyle. Read these powerful simple living quotes to stir a desire to explore the beauty of simplicity!
Profound Quotes About Simple Life Can Influence Your Entire Outlook
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If you’ve not yet encountered the simple living movement, it means decluttering and removing excess ‘noise’ from your life, to make more space for the things which bring you joy. Prioritising those things which bring you contentment and make life meaningful.
Words are powerful, and these poignant quotes are sure to speak to you, as they have spoken to me.
Why not use some of them as affirmations, or decorate your journal with the ones you are most inspired by?
100+ Thought-Provoking Simple Living Quotes to Stir You
More was never the answer. The answer, it turned out, was always less.
Cait Flanders, The Year of Less
When the living gets unburdened with needs and desires, the life becomes simple and easy to carry.
Shashi
I found the simple life, ain’t so simple.
Van Halen
Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.
William Morris
…There are often many things we feel we should do that, in fact, we don’t really have to do. Getting to the point where we can tell the difference is a major milestone in the simplification process.
Elaine St. James, Living the Simple Life: A Guide to Scaling Down and Enjoying More
My new deliberate and slower pace has created a higher quality in my experiences.
Lisa J. Shultz, Lighter Living: Declutter. Organize. Simplify.
It is desirable that a man live in all respects so simply and preparedly that if an enemy take the town… he can walk out the gate empty-handed and without anxiety.
Henry David Thoreau, Walden
Learn to live with less so that you appreciate more.
James Ryan
The simplest things are overlooked. And yet, it is the simplest things that are the most essential.
Thomas Lloyd Qualls, Painted Oxen
My goal is no longer to get more done, but rather to have less to do.
Francine Jay, Miss Minimalist: Inspiration to Downsize, Declutter, and Simplify
Simple pleasures are the last healthy refuge in a complex world.
Oscar Wilde
Having a simplified, uncluttered home is a form of self-care.
Emma Scheib
I think of all of us, weary in our suburban coffee shops, amassing everything my friends in Ethiopia need but having nothing they want. They have joy. Gratitude. Love. Community. Forgiveness. We have wicker basket organisers, SUVs, and backyard fire pits.
Erin Loechner, Chasing Slow
Going back to a simpler life is not a step backward.
Yvon Chouinard
The first step in crafting the life you want is to get rid of everything you don’t.
Joshua Becker
Cherish the things you love. Cherish yourself.
Marie Kondo, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: A simple, effective way to banish clutter forever
Reduce the complexity of life by eliminating the needless wants of life, and the labours of life reduce themselves.
Edwin Way Teale
According to history, quite a few times simple man turned out to be the significant man.
Amit Kalantri
The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.
Hans Hofmann
When we focus more on fitting it all in instead of making time for what counts, we lose sight of how to create a meaningful life.
Courtney Carver, Soulful Simplicity: How Living with Less Can Lead to So Much More
Your home is living space, not storage space.
Francine Jay, The Joy of Less: A Minimalist Guide to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify
I was rich, for there was nothing else that I needed or wanted.
Mark Warren, Two Winters in a Tipi: My Search for the Soul of the Forest
Life is as simple as these three questions: What do I want? Why do I want it? And, how will I achieve it?
Shannon L. Alder
Live simply so that others may simply live.
Mahatma Gandhi
After a while, I wasn’t saying no because I was so busy, I was saying no because I didn’t want to be so busy anymore.
Courtney Carver, Soulful Simplicity: How Living with Less Can Lead to So Much More
Ask a bird how to fly, and it might tell you to remove the weight from your wings.
Erin Loechner, Chasing Slow
There are two ways to be rich: one is by acquiring much, and the other is by desiring little.
Jackie French Koller
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.
Melody Beattie
How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.
Annie Dillard
The simple life is an authentic life.
Kilroy J. Oldster, Dead Toad Scrolls
The more you know, the less you need.
Yvon Chouinard
For a few minutes I tried to empty my mind entirely, to concentrate solely on breathing: sometimes it’s useful to rediscover simpler pleasures of life.
Romain Gary
The greatest wealth is to live content with little.
Plato
The simple pleasures of life give us lasting satisfaction.
Avijeet Das
In actual life, it requires the greatest art to be simple.
Carl Jung
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, Leaf and Tendril
Make things as simple as possible, but no simpler.
Albert Einstein
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, Walden
Live a simple life; you will own the most beautiful treasures of the world!
Mehmet Murat ildan
The five ascending levels of intellect: Smart, Intelligent, Brilliant, Genius, Simple.
Einstein
The question of what you want to own is actually the question of how you want to live your life.
Marie Kondo, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: A simple, effective way to banish clutter forever
The world’s greatest thinkers have often been amateurs; for high thinking is the outcome of fine and independent living, and for that a professional chair offers no special opportunities.
Havelock Ellis
Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason why so few engage in it.
Henry Ford
Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
Lao Tzu
Beware the barrenness of a busy life.
Socrates
A quiet and modest life brings more joy than a pursuit of success bound with constant unrest.
Albert Einstein
A person who knows who they are lives a simple life by eliminating from their orbit anything that does not align with his or her overriding purpose and values. A person must be selective with their time and energy because both elements of life are limited.
Kilroy J. Oldster
Have the courage to build your life around what is really most important to you.
Joshua Becker, The Minimalist Home: A Room-By-Room Guide to a Decluttered, Refocused Life
People no longer live by sun and moon, by wind and stars, but by some slyly contrived conventions known as clocks and calendars.
Matthew Goldman
There is only today, with holes in our pockets, with time spilling out. We cannot keep it for tomorrow.
Erin Loechner, Chasing Slow
The world is run by worn-out people, and our soul is often lost beneath the piles of our everyday life.
Emily P. Freeman
Adopt the pace of nature. Her secret is patience.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
We’re so caught up in trying to do everything, experience all the essential things, not miss out on anything important… Life is better when we don’t try to do everything. Learn to enjoy the slice of life you experience, and life turns out to be wonderful.
Leo Babauta
Real luxury is not working like a maniac to take an expensive vacation – it is living a life you enjoy every day.
Kathy Gottberg
When you simplify your life, you will be able to see the life much better because with a simple life you get rid of the obstacles that prevents your horizons!
Mehmet Murat ildan
The only wealth is life.
Saint Francis of Assisi
That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet.
Emily Dickinson
There is more joy and fulfillment in pursuing less than can be found in pursuing more.
Joshua Fields Millburn, Everything That Remains: A Memoir by The Minimalists
Do the work of naming the highest, eulogy-worthy priorities in your life. Then do the work of putting them at the centre of your life, every day.
Brooke McAlary, Slow
Quotes on Simple Life and Happiness
When simple is more than enough, you will feel happy more than enough!
Mehmet Murat ildan
All you need to do is be aware of your thoughts and emotions – as they happen. This is not really a ‘doing,’ but an alert ‘seeing.’ In that sense, it is true that there is nothing you can do to become free of the ego. When that shift happens, which is the shift from thinking to awareness, an intelligence far greater than the ego’s cleverness begins to operate in your life.
Eckhart Tolle
Be as simple as you can be; you will be astonished to see how uncomplicated and happy your life can become.
Paramahansa Yogonanda
Ask anyone what makes them truly happy, and they won’t say their stuff.
Peter Walsh, Lighten Up: Love What You Have, Have What You Need, Be Happier With Less
It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
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.
The Dalai Lama
The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.
Socrates
We need more country than concrete, we need more mind than material, we need more savannah than sky-scrapers, we need more melody than malady. And this can only happen if we make simplicity and responsibility the way of life.
Abhijit Naskar, The Gospel of Technology
To realise the soothing power of simple life is to find the secret of happiness!
Mehmet Murat ildan
Quotes About Simple Living, Decluttering, and Minimalism
Declutter your mind, your heart, your home. Let go of the heaviness that is weighing you down. Make your life simple, but significant.
Maria Defillo
The 5 Principles of JOMO (the joy of missing out):
1. JOMO is the opposite of FOMO (the Fear Of Missing Out).
Richie Norton, The Power of Starting Something Stupid
2. JOMO is intentionally choosing what to keep and what to give.
3. JOMO is choosing to ignore the Joneses (NOT just NOT keep up).
4. JOMO is framing the moment to keep the big picture dream in focus.
5. JOMO is the art of improved results with minimalism over maximalism.”
Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it.
Joshua Becker, Simplify
Minimalism is about creating space to live simply and meaningfully; it’s about living intentionally.
Laurie Buchanan, PhD
Minimalism is not that you should own nothing. But that nothing should own you.
Joshua Becker, The More of Less
Minimalism is not about having less. It’s about making room for more of what matters.
Unknown
Minimalism isn’t about removing things you love. It’s about removing the things that distract you from the things you love.
Joshua Becker, The Minimalist Home: A Room-By-Room Guide to a Decluttered, Refocused Life
A minimalist by intent, I live a beautiful life with fewer things – simple, yet full.
Laurie Buchanan, PhD
Simple Life Quotes About Stuff
Love people, use things. The opposite never works.
The Minimalists
The best things in life aren’t things.
Art Buchwald
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. . . . When you’re clear about your purpose and your priorities, you can painlessly discard whatever does not support these, whether it’s clutter in your cabinets or commitments on your calendar.
Victoria Moran, Lit From Within: Tending Your Soul For Lifelong Beauty
Many a man thinks he is buying pleasure, when he is really selling himself to it.
Benjamin Franklin
Perhaps, it is not necessary to have so many things. Perhaps, it is not necessary to do so many things. Do we really need it all? Or are we drowning ourselves in things and busyness?
Akiroq Brost
While you are alive collect moments not things, earn respect not money and enjoy love not luxuries.
Aarti Khurana
One of the best things you can give your kids is actually free: your time.
Peter Walsh, Lighten Up: Love What You Have, Have What You Need, Be Happier With Less
Joy comes not through possession or ownership but through a wise and loving heart.
Buddha
When you acquire less stuff you will actually get more of what you really want—more money, greater security, peace of mind, more time, more energy, and deeper relationships.
Peter Walsh, Lighten Up: Love What You Have, Have What You Need, Be Happier With Less
You don’t need more space. You need less stuff.
Joshua Becker, The More of Less
We need more. Not more stuff or money, opportunities or challenges. We need more authenticity. We need more peace.
Meg Meeker, The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers
Clutter is not just the stuff on your floor – it’s anything that stands between you and the life you want to be living.
Peter Walsh
Quotes on Simple Living, Peace, and Wellbeing
My choice of a lighter lifestyle has brought me a greater sense of well-being. In a world that often seems stressful and chaotic, that’s a feeling I cherish.
Lisa J. Shultz, Lighter Living: Declutter. Organize. Simplify.
A simple life gives birth to more clarity, inner peace and meaningful relationships.
Margo Vader
When we are content, our daily actions are infused with a quiet satisfaction that we share with those around us. We become aware of and responsible for other people’s well-being and they, in turn, for ours.
Louisa Thomsen Brits, The Book of Hygge
Peace is in the emptiness. Emptiness is in the fast of the mind.
Lao Tzu
The aim should be to obtain the maximum of well-being with the minimum of consumption. The cultivation and expansion of needs, is the antithesis of wisdom. It is also the antithesis of freedom and peace…
E.F. Schumacher
Take refuge in simple life! You will find three treasures there: Healthy body, peaceful mind and a life away from ambitious fools!
Mehmet Murat ildan
Simpler Life Quotes About Calm and Simplicity
Simplicity of living, if deliberately chosen, implies a compassionate approach to life. It means that we are choosing to live our daily lives with some degree of conscious appreciation of the condition of the rest of the world.
Duane Elgin
The greatest step towards a life of simplicity is to learn to let go.
Steve Maraboli
Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.
Coco Chanel
Solace is in simplicity.
Abhijit Naskar, The Gospel of Technology
Clutter smothers. Simplicity breathes.
Terry Guillemets
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
Leonardo Da Vinci
Life is lived in the moments of simplicity!
Avijeet Das
Simplicity isn’t about being a cold, hard minimalist. A different way of looking at simplicity is to take note of the Japanese aesthetic of wabi sabi. It is difficult to translate it directly into a Western sensibility but it is a way of finding beauty in imperfection and profundity in nature.
Amanda Talbot, Rethink: The Way You Live
Simplicity is an advanced course.
Sri Chinmoy
Simplicity is complex. It’s never simple to keep things simple. Simple solutions require the most advanced thinking.
Richie Norton
Getting rid of everything that doesn’t matter allows you to remember who you are. Simplicity doesn’t change who you are, it brings you back to who you are.
Courtney Carver, Soulful Simplicity: How Living with Less Can Lead to So Much More
Humanity can still prosper for 150,000 years…but this depends on choosing a voluntary simplicity…growing qualitatively, not quantitatively.
Matthieu Ricard
I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.
Lao Tzu
Outer order contributes to inner calm.
Gretchen Rubin, Outer Order, Inner Calm: declutter and organize to make more room for happiness
A home with fewer possessions is more spacious, more calming, and more focused on the people who live inside it.
Joshua Becker