Quotes about simplicity

Life is not supposed to make things complex. It is to unwind things, by giving simple answers to simple questions.

Simplicity and purity are the two wings by which a man is lifted above all earthly things. Simplicity is in the intention; purity in the affection. Simplicity tends to God; purity apprehends and tastes Him.

But then...it used to be so simple, once upon a time.

Ridcully was simple-minded. This doesn't mean stupid. It just means that he could only think properly about things if he cut away all the complicated bits around the edges. (p. 297)

I told you that your dream was a difficult one. '''It's the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary; only wise men are able to understand them.

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.

I mean to lead a simple life, to choose a simple shell I can carry easily — like a hermit crab. But I do not. I find that my frame of life does not foster simplicity. My husband and five children must make their way in the world. The life I have chosen as a wife and mother entrains a whole caravan of complications.

One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach. One can collect only a few, and they are more beautiful if they are few.

Everything in war is simple, but the simplest thing is difficult.

Dr. Hoenikker used to say that any scientist who couldn't explain to an eight-year-old what he was doing was a charlatan.

People who are bred, selected, and compensated to find complicated solutions do not have an incentive to implement simplified ones.

Simplicity is not so simple to attain.