quotations about simplicity
Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.
COCO CHANEL
interview, Harper's Bazaar, 1923
The greatest things are those which gain the most by being said most simply, since thus they show themselves for what they are: you do not throw over them the veil, however transparent, of beautiful discourse, nor that shadow so fatal to truth, called the writer's vanity.
CHARLES WAGNER
The Simple Life
Native simplicity has an influence on the mind, that art or knowledge of the world can never boast.
THOMAS INGMETHORPE
attributed, Day's Collacon
Perfect simplicity is unconsciously audacious.
GEORGE MEREDITH
The Ordeal of Richard Feverel
Simplicity is often the cloak of evil as well as the robe of virtue.
LEWIS MORRIS
attributed, Day's Collacon
Therefore I say once more, cast your eyes upon paper, and ready only such letters as I write, which convey no darts, no flames, but proceed from innocence of soul, and simplicity of heart.
ALEXANDER POPE
letter to Mrs. ***, The Works of Alexander Pope
He alone is a man who can resist the genius of the age, the tone of fashion, with vigorous simplicity and modest courage.
JOHANN KASPAR LAVATER
Aphorisms on Man
Simplifiers ensure that simplicity is always a goal, a benchmark and a means to arrive at success, leaving us with an actionable lesson -- if you want to innovate, simplify is the new disrupt.
MARGARET MOLLOY
"Five untold approaches to innovation", The Drum, August 24, 2017
out
of the night comes
a timeless thing
calm
in simplicity
soft
a seductive voice
meant for the human ear
down
down
down
i'm gonna take you
down
DANZIG
"When the Dying Calls"
It always amazes me how the most simple things are the ones to make us the happiest.
GAL GADOT
Instagram post, June 17, 2017
Order and simplification are the first steps toward the mastery of a subject.
THOMAS MANN
The Magic Mountain
Nature has a great simplicity and, therefore, a great beauty.
RICHARD FEYNMAN
The Character of Physical Law
Without [simplicity] no human performance can arrive at perfection.
JONATHAN SWIFT
The works of Jonathan Swift
In stillness and simplicity
In the silence of the heart I see
The mystery of eternity
Who lives in side of me.
MICHAEL CARD
"In Stillness and Simplicity"
Simplicity and purity are the two wings with which man soars above earth and all temporary nature.
THOMAS À KEMPIS
The Imitation of Christ
Nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed, to be simple is to be great.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON
Literary Ethics
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 encumbrances, 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
letter to Mr. B., March 27, 1848
God would behold in you a simplicity which will contain so much the more of His wisdom as it contains less of your own.
FRANÇOIS FÉNELON
attributed, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers
Upright simplicity is the deepest wisdom, and perverse craft the merest shallowness.
ISAAC BARROW
"Upright Walking Sure Walking", Eighteen Sermons on Various Subjects
True simplicity regards God alone; it has its eye fixed upon Him, and is not drawn toward self; and it is as pleased to say humble as great things.
MADAME GUYON
attributed, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers