Life is complex and it’s filled with so many material things, so much stuff, that it gets harder and harder to appreciate the really important things. But when you live with less and cherish the things you most need, nothing goes unnoticed and everything serves a purpose.
So instead of searching for more, find satisfaction in the things you already have and revel in the functionality they provide in your life. Never forget the things that make for a truly valuable life.
If your life is feeling cluttered, mentally or physically, it’s time to summon your inner minimalist. Use these 35 quotes about minimalism and simple living to pare down.
Popular Minimalist Quotes
- “Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it.” – Joshua Becker
- “I’ve learned that minimalism isn’t about what you own, it’s about why you own it.” – Brian Gardner
- “It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.” -Seneca
- “Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.” —Will Rogers
- “Any half-awake materialist well knows – that which you hold holds you.” –Tom Robbins
- “Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” – Lao Tzu
- “You can’t reach for anything new if your hands are still full of yesterday’s junk.” – Louise Smith
- “Just because something made you happy in the past doesn’t mean you have to keep it forever.” – Joshua Becker
- “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” – William Morris
Related: How Living With Less Can Give You More
Deep Minimalism Quotes
- “It is the preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents men from living freely and nobly.” —Bertrand Russell
- “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
- “We really must understand that the lust for affluence in contemporary society is psychotic. It is psychotic because it has completely lost touch with reality. We crave things we neither need nor enjoy.” -Richard J. Foster
- “We go on multiplying our conveniences only to multiply our cares. We increase our possessions only to the enlargement of our anxieties.” -Anna C. Brackett
- “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
- “Reduce the complexity of life by eliminating the needless wants of life, and the labors of life reduce themselves.” —Edwin Way Teale
- “The consumption society has made us feel that happiness lies in having things, and has failed to teach us the happiness of not having things.” -Elise M. Boulding
Related: 7 Ways to Lead a More Satisfying Life
Simple Living Quotes
- “Purity and simplicity are the two wings with which man soars above the earth and all temporary nature.” —Thomas Kempis
- “The greatest step towards a life of simplicity is to learn to let go.” – Steve Maraboli
- “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.” – Dalai Lama
- “The intention of voluntary simplicity is not to dogmatically live with less. It’s a more demanding intention of living with balance. This is a middle way that moves between the extremes of poverty and indulgence.” -Duane Elgin
- “Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.” — Sir Isaac Newton
- “Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough.” —Charles Dudley Warner
- “Simple pleasures are the last healthy refuge in a complex world.” —Oscar Wilde
- “I have to remind myself to live simply and not overindulge, which is a constant battle in a material world.” -Sandra Cisneros
- “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
Short Minimalist Quotes
- “Your home is living space, not storage space.” – Francine Jay
- “Less is more.” – Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
- “Wanting less is probably a better blessing than having more.” – Mary Ellen Edmunds
- “Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little.” -Epicurus
- “Simplicity is the glory of expression.” —Walt Whitman
- “The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of nonessentials.” – Lin Yutang
- “Clutter is nothing more than postponed decisions.” – Barbara Hemphill
- “There are two ways to be rich: One is by acquiring much, and the other is by desiring little.” -Jackie French Koller
- “It is always the simple that produces the marvelous.” —Amelia Barr
- “I make myself rich by making my wants few.” – Henry David Thoreau
