People who like minimalism generally strive to have as few “things” as possible. The mindset is to eliminate all the “extra” things you might not need and instead of trying to have as many things as possible, to have as few things as possible. In other words, go with the minimum you can do.
For example, do you really “need” 20 pairs or shoes or can you pare things down to the most important few? Same with shirts, pants, and all the basic everyday items you can think of.
Why do people explore minimalism? In short, because it helps refocus your mind to just focus on the few things that are really important to you. Freeing yourself of physical possessions helps you to let go of emotional and mental issues that are take up your energy as well.
This article will provide you with 56 powerful and inspirational minimalist quotes to foster your motivation. Let’s dive into these minimalist quotes.
The Most Powerful Minimalist Quotes
1. “Minimalists search for happiness not through things, but through life itself; thus, it’s up to you to determine what is necessary and what is superfluous to your life.” – Joshua Fields Millburn
2. “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
3. “Reduce the complexity of life by eliminating the needless wants of life, and the labors of life reduce themselves.” – Edwin Way Teale
4. “Purity and simplicity are the two wings with which man soars above the earth and all temporary nature.” – Thomas Kempis
5. “Want to know how to make yourself instantly unhappy? Compare yourself with someone else.” – Fumio Sasaki
6. “Digital minimalism definitively does not reject the innovations of the internet age, but instead rejects the way so many people currently engage with these tools.” – Cal Newport
7. “That’s been one of my mantras—focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” – Steve Jobs
8. “I make myself rich by making my wants few.” – Henry David Thoreau
9. A minimalist realizes that acquiring stuff doesn’t make us happy. That earning more and having more are meaningless. That filling your life with busy-ness and freneticism isn’t desirable, but something to be avoided. A minimalist values quality, not quantity, in all forms.” – Leo Babauta
10. “Now, before I spend money I ask myself one question: Is this worth my freedom? Like: Is this coffee worth two dollars of my freedom? Is this shirt worth thirty dollars of my freedom? Is this car worth thirty thousand dollars of my freedom? In other words, am I going to get more value from the thing I’m about to purchase, or am I going to get more value from my freedom?” – Joshua Fields Millburn
11. “I’ve learned that minimalism is not about what you own, it’s about why you own it.” – Brian Gardner
12. “Taking time for ourselves, especially when we’re overwhelmed and don’t want to, helps declutter the mind. Everyone has twenty minutes a day to clear their mental clutter.” – Joshua Fields Millburn
13. “I finally figured it out. Instead of working so hard to make ends meet, work on having fewer ends.” – Courtney Carver
14. “Our excessive possessions are not making us happy. Even worse, they are taking us away from the things that do. Once we let go of the things that don’t matter, we are free to pursue all the things that do matter.” – Joshua Becker
15. “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.” – The Dalai Lama
16. “But I deal with this by meditating and by understanding I’ve been put on the planet to serve humanity. I have to remind myself to live simply and not overindulge, which is a constant battle in a material world.” – Sandra Cisneros
17. “One of the advantages of being born in an affluent society is that if one has any intelligence at all, one will realize that having more and more won’t solve the problem, and happiness does not lie in possessions, or even relationships: The answer lies within ourselves. If we can’t find peace and happiness there, it’s not going to come from the outside.” – Tenzin Palmo
18. “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 Foster
19. “Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.” – Isaac Newton
20. “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci
21. “Minimalism is built around the idea that there’s nothing that you’re lacking.” – Fumio Sasaki
22. “There are more things to gain from eliminating excess than you might imagine: time, space, freedom, and energy, for example.” – Fumio Sasaki
23. “Keep only those things that speak to your heart. Then take the plunge and discard all the rest.” – Marie Kondō
24. “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
25. “Minimalism is just the beginning. It’s a tool. Once you’ve gone ahead and minimized, it’s time to find out what those important things are.” – Fumio Sasaki
26. “I’ve found that the less stuff I own, the less my stuff owns me.” – Nathan W. Morris
27. “Simple pleasures are the last healthy refuge in a complex world.” – Oscar Wilde
28. “If our lives are burdened with clutter, we’re giving the best of ourselves away to the things that matter least.” – Erica Layne
29. “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
30. “The best present is presence. You see, the people I care about mean much more to me than a new pair of shoes or a shiny new gadget or even a certified pre-owned luxury car with a huge bow on top. And yet, many of us attempt to give material items to make up for the time we don’t spend with the people we love.” – The Minimalists
31. “More was never the answer. The answer, it turned out, was always less.” – Cait Flanders
32. “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
33. “A great principle of minimalism is using the minimum amount of resources, which accords perfectly with our present-day need for sustainability.” – Dr. Prem Jagyasi
34. “Holding on to things from the past is the same as clinging to an image of yourself in the past. If you’re the least bit interested in changing anything about yourself, I suggest you be brave and start letting things go.” – Fumio Sasaki
35. “Minimalism is a repeated, daily choice to be intentional about what you allow into your life—and this is so much more important than a one-off decluttering binge.” – Jennifer – SimplyFiercely.com
36. “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.” – E.F. Schumacher
37. “Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.” – Lin Yutang
38. “Simplicity is an acquired taste. Mankind, left free, instinctively complicates life.” – Katharine Fullerton Gerould
39. “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
40. “If you ask me what minimalism is really about, I would say that it’s the altering of values – enter the small doors of minimalism and come out on the other side with big ideas.” – Fumio Sasaki
41. “I have my definition of minimalism, which is that which is created with a minimum of means.” – La Monte Young
42. “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” – William Morris
43. “Minimalism is not about having less. It’s about making room for more of what matters.” – Melissa (Simple Lion Heart)
44. “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 Boulding
45. “Simplicity is the most difficult thing to secure in this world; it is the last limit experience and the last effort of genius.” – George Sand
46. “I Would Rather Have Extra Space And Extra Time Than Extra Stuff” – Francine Jay
47. “If one had taken what is necessary to cover one’s needs and had left the rest to those who are in need, no one would be rich, no one would be poor, no one would be in need.” – Saint Basil
48. “In the rush of today’s world, and with more than half of us now living in cities, the majority of people are less and less connected with the spectacle of nature.” – Louise Leakey
49. “Our souls are not hungry for fame, comfort, wealth, or power. Our souls are hungry for meaning, for the sense that we have figured out how to live so that our lives matter.” – Harold Kushner
50. “Smile, breathe, and go slowly.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
51. “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
52. “You say, ‘If I had a little more, I would be very satisfied.’ You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled.” – Charles Spurgeon
53. “Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be worthy of the trust of thy neighbor, and look upon him with a bright and friendly face. Be a treasure to the poor, an admonisher to the rich, an answerer of the cry of the needy, a preserver of the sanctity of thy pledge.” – Baha’u’llah
54. “Real happiness is cheap enough, yet how dearly we pay for its counterfeit.” – Hosea Ballo
55. “If your mind isn’t clouded by unnecessary things, then this is the best season of your life.” – Wu-Men
56. “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
Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things (Official Trailer)MINIMALISM:
A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE IMPORTANT THINGS examines the many flavors of minimalism by taking the audience inside the lives of minimalists from all walks of life—families, entrepreneurs, architects, artists, journalists, scientists, and even a former Wall Street broker—all of whom are striving to live a meaningful life with less.
Summary
The mindset of a minimalist is that focusing on having fewer possessions will help you find freedom. It’s paradoxical but it works. When you have fewer physical possessions you will be be able to have greater mental focus.
In short, adopt the mindset of minimalism to eliminate the unnecessary excesses in your life and focus on what is important – it will help you find freedom and happiness.
I’m Alice Judy and AnQuotes is a fun hobby for me. We know that everyone loves a great quote and our mission here is simple – to be the best and most interesting quote site in the world! If you have quotes you would like us to cover, please contact us.
