personal development on Simplicity

I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity. On the near side of complexity is simplistic; on the far...

The story is told of Socrates walking through the market in Athens, with its groaning abundance of options, and saying to himself, “Who would have thought that there could be so many things that I can...

Ambiguity may keep people up nights, but anyone seeking exquisite simplicity in his or her career ought to look for a non-leadership position. Leaders, by definition, have followers. Followers need di...

While extremely sensitive as to the slightest approach to slander, you must also guard against an extreme into which some people fall who, in their desire to speak evil of no one, actually uphold and ...

Bumper stickers—and their counterparts on social media—make Simplicism seem virtuous: “Look at me! I’m a good and brave person for distilling this complex issue down to its essence and righteously tak...

Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.

Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.

Alltruths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.

Time talks. It speaks more plainly than words. The message it conveys comes through loud and clear. Because it is manipulated less consciously, it is subject to less distortion than the spoken languag...

Christ's work needs no repetition. It is final because it is perfect.

The temptation of the age is to look good without being good.

Learning to be satisfied with what we have rather than desiring more, more, more— this is the essence of joy.

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony.

The simple act of paying attention can take you a long way.

Be sincere, Be brief, Be seated.

Repetition is the reality and the seriousness of life

Clutter is the enemy of clarity.

In solitude we are in the presence of mere matter (even the sky, the stars, the moon, trees in blossom), things of less value (perhaps) than a human spirit. Its value lies in the greater possibility o...

No legacy is so rich as honesty.

Far too easily we settle for holiness rather than wholeness, conformity rather than authenticity, becoming spiritual rather than deeply human, fulfillment rather than transformation, and a journey tow...

In the story of grace, the lack of hurry makes room for presence.

Be less concerned with what you have than with what you are.

Presence is experienced as a unitary whole. Think, for example, about the experience of sitting on the top of a hill, far from the polluting lights of a city, gazing at a dark, starry sky. Unless you ...

For all our time and attention, no matter how carefully we curate our stuff or how much we might enjoy ourselves along the way, we’re all merely stocking and staging someone else’s opportunity for bar...

When you can do the common things of life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.

We disappear because we are uncomfortable with being in process.

The truth is simpler… and more alarming. [This] is the end of religious experience, the very opposite of mysticism…. We have been going round the paths, and suddenly we see our path goes round a hole,...

Deep, solemn optimism, it seems to me, should spring from this firm belief in the presence of God in the individual; not a remote, unapproachable governor of the universe, but a God who is very near e...

The beauty of trust is that it erases worry and frees you to get on with other matters. Trust means confidence.