“Even the simplest of things are highly valued when our life is relied on them.”

From Here to Eternity (1951), p. 668
Context: Why was it everything was always so goddam complicated? Even the simplest things was so goddam complicated when you come to doing them.

Variant: It's the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary.
Source: Manuscript Found in Accra

Source: Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World, p. 121

Quintin Hogg, The Case for Conservatism (Penguin, 1947), p. 10.

The Ethics of Belief (1877), The Limits Of Inference
Context: A little reflection will show us that every belief, even the simplest and most fundamental, goes beyond experience when regarded as a guide to our actions. … Even the fundamental "I am," which cannot be doubted, is no guide to action until it takes to itself "I shall be," which goes beyond experience. The question is not, therefore, "May we believe what goes beyond experience?" for this is involved in the very nature of belief; but "How far and in what manner may we add to our experience in forming our beliefs?"

The Upland Shooting Life (1971)

Paris Review interview (1969)
Context: When you consider that there are a thousand ways to express even the simplest idea, it is no wonder writers are under a great strain. Writers care greatly how a thing is said — it makes all the difference. So they are constantly faced with too many choices and must make too many decisions.
I am still encouraged to go on. I wouldn't know where else to go.

The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover