There is hardly a place where, in the course of a year, some things are not purchased and never used, and where spring cleaning does not unearth them. Spring is the time when the good housewife puts all doubtful things into the trash barrel. – E.F. White, “Spring Soda Fountain Thoughts,” 1908 [a little altered —t&#94

Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful. – William Morris, lecture, 1880

Having too many things is a burden to the soul, an insult to the earth, and an obstacle course to our spiritual well-being. – Terri Guillemets, “At home,” 2005

Do other people, I wonder, find the same keen pleasure that I do in periodically undertaking a pilgrimage all over the house to wage a war of extermination upon its accumulations of rubbish? – Chiffon, “The Woman of To‑Day,” To‑Day, 1898 January 15th #declutter