To those who complain of the complexity of modern life, he [Henry David Thoreau] might reply, “If you want inner peace find it in solitude, not speed, and if you would find yourself, look to the land from which you came and to which you go.” – Stewart Udall, The Quiet Crisis, 1963

A refined simplicity is the characteristic of all high bred deportment, in every country, and a considerate humanity should be the aim of all beneath it. – James Fenimore Cooper

The trouble with simple living is that, though it can be joyful, rich, and creative, it isn’t simple. – Doris Janzen Longacre

I like to walk about among the beautiful things that adorn the world; but private wealth I should decline, or any sort of personal possessions, because they would take away my liberty. – George Santayana, “The Irony of Liberalism”