The wisdom and power of simplicity

Modern man lives surrounded by excesses: words that are superfluous, objects that are superfluous, worries that are superfluous. In the midst of that apparent abundance, the only thing that is lacking is clarity.

Wisdom begins when we dare to ask: what is truly necessary? Whoever learns to answer this question, even partially, takes a step towards inner freedom.

To return to the essentials is not to impoverish life, but to enrich it. It's like cleaning stained glass: the landscape doesn't change, but the vision becomes clearer. Simplicity does not take away, it reveals.

The sages of antiquity did not surround themselves with unnecessary ornaments; they sought, rather, a firm heart in the small. The power of simplicity lies in the fact that it brings us back to the real: to the present we have, to the time that runs, to the life that happens right now.

When we forget the essentials, life becomes a confused noise; When we recover it, everything is ordered. The first exercise of wisdom is therefore an act of pruning: removing what is left over, so that what remains can bear fruit.

The root of wisdom is this: to learn to distinguish the necessary from the superfluous. And in that distinction, to find a power stronger than any appearance: the power to live without fear.

The author.