“Complex things are easy to do. Simplicity's the real challenge.”
Robert James Waller The Bridges of Madison County
Source: The Bridges of Madison County
“Complex things are easy to do. Simplicity's the real challenge.”
Robert James Waller The Bridges of Madison County
Source: The Bridges of Madison County
Edward Abbey (1927–1989) American author and essayist
Source: Beyond the Wall: Essays from the Outside
Patrick Rothfuss book The Name of the Wind
Source: The Name of the Wind (2007), Chapter 45, “Interlude—Some Tavern Tale” (p. 333)
Anne Bishop (1955) American fiction writer
Source: Daughter of the Blood
“The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity.”
Walt Whitman (1819–1892) American poet, essayist and journalist
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity
Variant: Three Rules of Work:
Out of clutter find simplicity.
From discord find harmony.
In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.
Source: The Quotable Einstein
Fernand Léger (1881–1955) French painter
Quote from: 'Actualités, Fernand Léger', in 'Varietés nr. 1', 1928, pp. 523-524
Quotes of Fernand Leger, 1920's
Larry Wall (1954) American computer programmer and author, creator of Perl
[1992Jan10.201804.11926@netlabs.com, 1992]
Usenet postings, 1992
Benoît Mandelbrot (1924–2010) Polish-born, French and American mathematician
A Theory of Roughness (2004)
Richard Feynman (1918–1988) American theoretical physicist
as quoted by K.C. Cole, Sympathetic Vibrations: Reflections on Physics as a Way of Life (1985)
George Sarton (1884–1956) American historian of science
Preface.
A History of Science Vol.1 Ancient Science Through the Golden Age of Greece (1952)
Grady Booch (1955) American software engineer
Grady Booch (2006) " On design https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/blogs/gradybooch/entry/on_design?lang=en" cited in: Frank Buschmann, Kevlin Henney, Douglas C. Schmidt (2007) Pattern-Oriented Software Architecture, On Patterns and Pattern Languages. p. 214
Haidakhan Babaji teacher in northern India
30 September 1982.
The Teachings of Babaji
Wisława Szymborska (1923–2012) Polish writer
"An Opinion Concerning the Question of Pornography"
Poems New and Collected (1998), The People on the Bridge (1986)
Jonathan Ive (1967) English designer and VP of Design at Apple
On the design of the Apple Cinema Display http://www.apple.com/displays/, in an article by Leander Kahney in Wired News magazine (June 2003)
“Yes, I am the Apostle of Simplicity. I am called Archibald the All-Right, for I am infallible.”
W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) English librettist of the Gilbert & Sullivan duo
Patience (1881)
Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863) French painter
7 September 1854 (p. 252)
1831 - 1863, Delacroix' 'Journal' (1847 – 1863)
“There is great freedom in simplicity of living.”
Peace Pilgrim (1908–1981) American non-denominational spiritual teacher
Source: Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words (1982), Ch. 2 : My Spiritual Growing Up : My Steps Toward Inner Peace
J. L. Austin (1911–1960) English philosopher
Austin (1956) " A Plea for Excuses http://www.ditext.com/austin/plea.html", in Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 1956-7.
Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn (1909–1999) Austrian noble and political theorist
Source: Leftism Revisited (1990), p. 337
Josef Pieper (1904–1997) German philosopher
Source: Leisure, the Basis of Culture (1948), The Philosophical Act, pp. 127–128
The "interpretation of Plato" referred to is that of Gerhard Krüger, Einsicht und Leidenschaft (Frankfurt, 1939), p. 301.
Peter de Noronha (1897–1970) Indian businessman
The Pageant of Life (1964), On Writers
François Fénelon (1651–1715) Catholic bishop
Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 169.
Benoît Mandelbrot (1924–2010) Polish-born, French and American mathematician
Source: The Fractalist (2012), Ch. 29, p. 299
“Truth has been confused. Simplicity refused.”
Dawud Wharnsby (1972) Canadian musician
"Love Strong"
The Poets And The Prophet (2006)
Russell L. Ackoff (1919–2009) Scientist
Source: 1960s, Scientific method: optimizing applied research decisions, 1962, p. 108 as cited in: Joe H. Ward, Earl Jennings (1973) Introduction to linear models. p. 4.
Marsden Hartley (1877–1943) American artist
letter to A. Sieglitz, October 28, 1936, Hartley Archive, Yale University; as quoted in Marsden Hartley, by Gail R. Scott, Abbeville Publishers, Cross River Press, 1988, New York p. 111
1931 - 1943
Will Eisner (1917–2005) American cartoonist
The Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion (10/2/2005)
“Ancient simplicity is gone…the people of today are satisfied with nothing but finery.”
Ihara Saikaku (1642–1693) Japanese writer
Book I, ch. 4.
The Japanese Family Storehouse (1688)
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919) French painter and sculptor
in a letter written during his three-weeks-stay, working with Paul Cezanne at l'Estaque, near Marseille
Source: 1880's, Renoir – his life and work, 1975, p. 169 in a letter to madame Charpentier, l'Estaque, January 1882
George Steiner (1929–2020) American writer
"The Hollow Miracle" (1959).
Language and Silence: Essays 1958-1966 (1967)
Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) American writer
Foreward (p. xv)
Earthsea Books, Tales from Earthsea (2001)
Simone Weil (1909–1943) French philosopher, Christian mystic, and social activist
“Morality and literature,” pp. 160-161
On Science, Necessity, and the Love of God (1968)
Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) French painter
Source: Quotes of Paul Cezanne, after 1900, Cézanne, - a Memoir with Conversations, (1897 - 1906), p. 158-159, in: 'What he told me – I. The motif'
Garrison Keillor (1942) American radio host and writer
University of Minnesota Alumni Association (UMAA) Annual Meeting Keynote Speech (29 April 1992) UMAA 199204 to 199306 Meeting Minutes http://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/48842/1/199204-199306.pdf
Thomas Randolph (poet) (1605–1635) English poet and dramatist
"An Ode to Master Anthony Stafford, to hasten him into the Country"
Poems (pub. 1638)
George Peacock (1791–1858) Scottish mathematician
Vol. II: On Symbolical Algebra and its Applications to the Geometry of Position (1845) Preface, p. iii
A Treatise on Algebra (1842)
John L. Heilbron (1934) American historian
Thomas Samuel Kuhn: 18 July 1922-17 June 1996 (1998)
Charles Rollin (1661–1741) French historian
The Method of Teaching and Studying the Belles Lettres, Vol. I, The Third Edition (1742), Part II, Ch. 2: 'General Reflections upon what is called good Taste', pp. 45–46
William Feller (1906–1970) Croatian-American mathematician
Source: An Introduction To Probability Theory And Its Applications (Third Edition), Chapter V, Conditional Probability, Stochastic Independence, p. 114.
John Barnes book Mother of Storms
Source: Mother of Storms (1994), pp. 470-471
Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) French Post-Impressionist artist
Source: 1870s - 1880s, The Writings of a Savage (1996), p. 24: quote in his letter to Vincent van Gogh, c. 1888
Gyles Brandreth (1948) British writer, broadcaster and former Member of Parliament
Genius series 3, episode 4 (BBC Radio 4, [2007-10-22).
Raymond Geuss book Philosophy and Real Politics
Source: Philosophy and Real Politics (2008), p. 39.
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity
Contribution in Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist, p. A. Schilpp, ed. (The Library of Living Philosophers, Evanston, IL (1949), p. 684). Quoted in Einstein's Philosophy of Science http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/einstein-philscience/ <br class="br">1940s
Sister Nivedita book The Web of Indian Life
[The Web of Indian Life, Ch. V: The Place of Women in the National Life, http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/wil/wil07.htm, 20 June 2012, Sister Nivedita]
The Web of Indian Life (1904)
“Elegant as simplicity, and warm
As ecstasy.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) (1731–1800) English poet and hymnodist
Source: Table Talk (1782), Line 588.
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876–1944) Italian poet and editor, founder of the Futurist movement
Quoted in: Anthony L. Geist, Jose B. Monle-N, Modernism and Its Margins: Reinscribing Cultural Modernity from Spain and Latin America. Taylor & Francis, 1999, p. 57.
1910's, Futurist Speech to the English' (1910)
Seneca the Younger (-4–65 BC) Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist
On Tranquility of the Mind
Hakeem Olajuwon (1963) Nigerian–American basketball player
Slam dunk - interview with basketball player Hakeem Olajuwon - Interview, Feb, 1994 by Spike Lee.
Sourced Quotes
John Calvin book Institutes of the Christian Religion
Prefatory Address, p. 22
Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536; 1559)
Edsger W. Dijkstra (1930–2002) Dutch computer scientist
Dijkstra (1984) On the nature of Computing Science http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD08xx/EWD896.html (EWD896). <br class="br">1980s
Melvin Schwartz (1932–2006) American experimental physicist
in Electromagnetism and Its Relation to Relativity, chapter 3 of his book [Principles of electrodynamics, Courier Dover Publications, 1987, 0486654931, 105]
John Woolman (1720–1772) American Quaker preacher
Source: The Journal of John Woolman (1774), p. 36; as cited in: Ruth Marie Griffith (2008) American Religions: A Documentary History. p. 137
Theodor Mommsen (1817–1903) German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician, archaeologist and writer
Vol. 4, pt. 2, translated by W.P.Dickson.
The History of Rome - Volume 4: Part 2
Jack Kerouac book Beat Generation
Definition of "Beat Generation" offered to Random House publishers in 1959, after being asked him if there was anything he'd like to add to the definition they were preparing for the American College Dictionary: "Certain members of the generation that came of age after World War II who affect detachment from moral and social forms and responsibilities, supposedly the result of disillusionment. Coined by Jack Kerouac." The Random House definition eventually published read: "members of the generation that came of age after World War II who, supposedly as a result of disillusionment stemming from the Cold War, espoused forms of mysticism and the relaxation of social and sexual inhibitions."
L. K. Samuels (1951) American writer
Source: In Defense of Chaos: The Chaology of Politics, Economics and Human Action, (2013), p. 191
Wayne Teasdale (1945–2004) American writer
Source: A Monk in the World: Cultivating a Spiritual Life (2003), p. 1
“Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability.”
Edsger W. Dijkstra (1930–2002) Dutch computer scientist
1970s, How do we tell truths that might hurt? (1975)
Francis Crick (1916–2004) British molecular biologist, biophysicist, neuroscientist; co-discoverer of the structure of DNA
What Mad Pursuit (1988)
Paul Klee (1879–1940) German Swiss painter
Quote (End of 1908), in 'Diary III', The Diaries of Paul Klee, 1898-1918, translation: Pierre B. Schneider, R. Y. Zachary and Max Knight; publisher, University of California Press, 1968, p. 220
1903 - 1910
“The greater the emotional intensity, the greater the simplicity.”
Alan Hovhaness (1911–2000) Armenian-American composer
Alan Hovhaness program notes to “Avak The Healer” (1946).
Nicholas Roerich (1874–1947) Russian painter, writer, archaeologist, theosophist, enlightener, philosopher
Introduction
Leaves Of Morya's Garden (1924 - 1925), Book II : Illumination (1925)
Washington Irving (1783–1859) writer, historian and diplomat from the United States
Mahomet and his successors, George P. Putnam, 1850, p. 339.
Mahomet and his successors (1849)
Sol LeWitt (1928–2007) American artist
Quotes of Sol Lewitt, "Paragraphs on Conceptual Art," 1967
Abdul Sattar Edhi (1928–2016) Pakistani philanthropist, social activist, ascetic and humanitarian
as quoted in his Urdu language message, published in the report of National Annual Conference-2004 and Award Ceremony on the International Day of Human Rights, page-14 ( December 9, 2004 at Islamabad –Pakistan http://www.ihro.org.pk/downloads/4th%20Annual%20conference%20report.pdf/) organized by International Human Rights Observer http://www.ihro.org.pk/ Retrieved July 23, 2016
John Ruysbroeck (1293–1381) Flemish mystic
Evelyn Underhill Mysticism: A Study in the Nature and Development of Man's Spiritual Consciousness (1912), p. 433
The Sparkling Stone (c. 1340)
Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749–1827) French mathematician and astronomer
Quoted in H Eves Return to Mathematical Circles (Boston 1988). http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Quotations/Laplace.html
Stephen Jay Gould book Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms
Source: Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms (1998) Triumph of the Root-Heads, p. 355
Andy Goldsworthy (1956) British sculptor and photographer
Interview with Conrad Bodman, curator at the Barbican Arts Centre (2001)
Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876–1907) German artist
excerpt of her Journal, 1899; as quoted in Voicing our visions, – Writings by women artists; ed. Mara R. Witzling, Universe New York, 1991, p. 198
1899
Ward Cunningham (1949) American computer programmer who developed the first wiki
A Conversation with Ward Cunningham (2003), The Simplest Thing that Could Possibly Work
Richard Cobden (1804–1865) English manufacturer and Radical and Liberal statesman
Speech http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/cobden-speeches-on-questions-of-public-policy-vol-1-free-trade-and-finance in Manchester (15 January 1846). <br class="br">1840s