Simplicity Quotes
Albert Einstein heads a small list, followed by Steve Maraboli, François Fénelon and others with two entries each. The sourced lines include Edsger Dijkstra’s from 1975, that simplicity is a prerequisite for reliability, and Goldsmith’s from The Deserted Village (1770), about one native charm being dearer than all the gloss of art.
“I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time” is credited to Mark Twain and marked misattributed. The notes give the French original, “Je n’ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n’ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte,” which is Pascal’s, from the Provincial Letters. “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” is credited to Leonardo da Vinci and disputed.
The more a writer deviates from simplicity, the less sincere he appears.
Free yourself from the complexities of your life! A life of simplicity and happiness awaits you.
Ancient simplicity is gone...the people of today are satisfied with nothing but finery.
Simplicity of character is no hindrance to subtlety of intellect.
The greater the emotional intensity, the greater the simplicity.
One who understands much displays a greater simplicity of character than one who understands little.
When the subject is strong, simplicity is the only way to treat it.
The simplicity of the generous gesture can give a joy of living to those who need it so much.
Simplicity clears space so I can think big and build the future.
Four basic premises of writing: clarity, brevity, simplicity, and humanity.
The pedant interprets the simplicity and the humility of the wise man as ignorance.