Living a simple life is not about deprivation—it’s about eliminating the unnecessary to focus on what matters. Whether it’s clutter in your home, commitments that overwhelm your schedule, or distractions in your inbox, simplicity teaches us clarity, balance, and contentment.
Having some simple living quotes to turn to helps keep us grounded in timeless wisdom, and can inspire us to live intentionally and with purpose.
I’m a big fan of Hellenistic philosophy and included some of the famous Stoics in here. These curated simple life quotes will help you zoom in on what’s necessary, declutter your mind and space, and maybe even trigger the first step in creating the life you want.
Whether you’re looking for motivation to simplify your surroundings or a sense of peace amidst the noise of modern life, I think you’ll find these uplifting and inspiring!
Inspirational Quotes About the Simple Life
“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.”
Marcus Aurelius
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
Leonardo da Vinci
“The first step in crafting the life you want is to get rid of everything you don’t.”
Joshua Becker
“Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough.”
Charles Dudley Warner
“The greatest wealth is a poverty of desires.”
Seneca
Short and Simple Life Quotes
“Live simply so that others may simply live.”
Mahatma Gandhi
“Simplicity is the key to brilliance.”
Bruce Lee
“He is most powerful who has power over himself.”
Seneca
“The greatest wealth is to live content with little.”
Plato
“There is no greatness where there is not simplicity.”
Leo Tolstoy
Beautiful Quotes About Nature and Contentment
“Find the air sweet and refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter.”
Henry David Thoreau
“Thrilled by the stars at night, the nest of a wildflower in spring.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty.”
Socrates
“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars and see yourself running with them.”
Marcus Aurelius
“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Best Simple Life Quotes About Decluttering and Simplifying
“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”
William Morris
“If you really want to escape the things that harass you, what you’re needing is not to be in a different place but to be a different person.”
Seneca
“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.”
Hans Hofmann
“It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.”
Seneca
Epictetus
“How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself?”
Favorite Quotes About the Rewards of the Simple Life
“What we do now echoes in eternity.”
Marcus Aurelius
“Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems.”
Epictetus
“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future.”
Seneca
“The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.”
Marcus Aurelius
“To be free, a person must be selective with their time and energy because both elements of life are limited.”
Leo Babauta
Minimalism and Simple Things
“Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of everything that distracts us from it.”
Joshua Becker
“There is beauty in simplicity, in living a life which are the real things that really matter.”
Leo Babauta
“The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately.”
Seneca
“Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful.”
John Maeda
“Never regret anything that made you smile.”
Mark Twain
Quotes That Inspire Mindfulness
“You have power over your mind—not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
Marcus Aurelius
“Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it.”
Epictetus
“The essence of philosophy is that a man should live so that his happiness depends as little as possible on external things.”
Epictetus
What Are Your Favourite Simple Life Quotes?
Simplicity is the shortest path to clarity and greater joy. By eliminating from your orbit anything that does not align with your purpose and values, you become the curator of your life.
As these quotes remind us, the present moment can teach us contentment and show us we need rather little to be happy.
Take a moment to jot down what inspires you and let these words motivate you to create a life with more balance and meaning. Leave a comment with your favourite quote!
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