THE VALUE OF

SIMPLICITY

Often ornateness

Goes with greatness;

Oftener felicity

Comes of simplicity.

William Watson.

I am convinced, both by faith and experience, that to maintain one's self on this earth is not a hardship but a pastime, if we will live simply and wisely; as the pursuits of the simpler nations are still the sports of the more artificial. H. D. Thoreau.

A servant, with this clause,

Makes drudgery divine:

Who sweeps a room, as for Thy laws,

Makes that and th' action fine.

George Herbert.

It is far more difficult to be simple than to be complicated; far more difficult to sacrifice skill and cease exertion in the proper place, than to expend both indiscriminately.

Ruskin.

The World is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon, The winds that will be howling at all hours And are up-gather'd now like sleeping flowers, For this, for everything, we are out of tune;

It moves us not, Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn,
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

William Wordsworth.

The man whose character is simple looks truth and honesty so straight in the face that he has no consciousness of intrigue and corruption around him.

William George Jordan.

THE VALUE OF

SIMPLICITY

Often ornateness

Goes with greatness;

Oftener felicity

Comes of simplicity.

William Watson.

I am convinced, both by faith and experience, that to maintain one's self on this earth is not a hardship but a pastime, if we will live simply and wisely; as the pursuits of the simpler nations are still the sports of the more artificial. H. D. Thoreau.

A servant, with this clause,
Makes drudgery divine:

Who sweeps a room, as for Thy laws,

Makes that and th' action fine.

George Herbert.

It is far more difficult to be simple than to be complicated; far more difficult to sacrifice skill and cease exertion in the proper place, than to expend both indiscriminately.

Ruskin.

The World is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon, The winds that will be howling at all hours And are up-gather'd now like sleeping flowers, For this, for everything, we are out of tune;

It moves us not, Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn,

So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

William Wordsworth.

The man whose character is simple looks truth and honesty so straight in the face that he has no consciousness of intrigue and corruption around him.

William George Jordan.