Simplicity indicates the value of a person

Simple people are elegant by nature. They don't present themselves with unnecessary frills and affectations. And they aren't slaves to narcissism.

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importance of simplicity

It's not easy to be simple. As he wrote Giacomo Leopardi, which delved unblinkingly into the depths of the human soul, man is naturally drawn "to artifice and affectation" and in general "the simplest, truest, and surest means are the last we find." This is not, as it might seem, a way to complicate one's life. But it is merely a banalized, reductive, schematic idea of ​​simplicity. More than a virtue, we consider it a failure, a surrender. Especially in the era of competition, merit, skills, of surpassing others otherwise you are nobody. And instead simplicity has a enormous value, aesthetic and ethical.

Simplicity is a quality. And being simple strengthens our personality, not weakens it. An unfortunate semantic distortion, corresponding to a declining idea of ​​simplicity, has led to the proliferation of synonyms, all negative in nature, for this word. Simpleton, simpleton, to name just two examples. People of little substance, of little weight, and therefore also unreliable. The opposite of the value and specific weight of simplicity. A quality to be cultivated and not squandered.
Have you ever listened to the music of Ludovico Einaudi, an extraordinary Piedmontese musician and grandson of Luigi, the second President of the Italian Republic and founder of the most prestigious Italian publishing house? Do it. Not only because we are talking about an artist much loved by the general public, capable of selling over 1 million records, with world tours that regularly sell out, but also because all of Einaudi's music, according to his definition, it is "a praise of simplicity"A eulogy that brings together Mozart and minimalist lyrics, ethnic music with classical-romantic, rock with jazz, electronic music with tradition. And it allows the musician to cross all genres, without conventions, without clichés, without barriers. But with enormous creativity: hence his international success.
Already, I believe that simplicity is creative by definition. It frees us from useless frills, which are sometimes defined as "superstructures" and leads us, gently and naturally, towards ourselves, what we really are and not what we appear to be. An exercise to be rediscovered in the era of lightning-fast, yet porous and inconsistent, appearances, of being there at all costs, perhaps to climb the career ladder or for a few extra euros in our pockets, but never remaining thanks to a true solidity, a sign that can endure beyond our existence.

Simplicity restores our sense of gestures, words, space, and things in general. What's simpler than a dictionary where words like "thank you" and "thank you" are retrieved and used without stinginess.excuse", "you're welcome"? Words that, in their essentiality, have an impact on the quality of our relationships, and are never wasted. Unlike many self-congratulatory rants that we are forced to listen to from people who, when we meet them, greet us like this: "Hi, how am I?"

As for space, every corner of Beauty and even Great Beauty, not just that of a single city but of Nature as a whole, inspires simplicity. A tree that covers us with its shadow. A flower that dazzles us with its colors. A glimpse of sea, mountains, hills, still caught in the magic of silence. Simple places, simple discoveries, which can however give to our lifestyle, well-being, empathy, desire to share.

There is something simpler, in the keyboard of affections (family, friends, sentimental), than a caress, than a kiss? Here too: nothing pyrotechnic (everyone is free to kiss as they want...), but a gesture, just one, capable of giving us back the pleasure, the emotion, the heartbeat, of giving us and transmitting something that if it is not love, looks a lot like it.

A simple person has his own lifestyle, and above all his own personality that he manages to express also on an aesthetic level. The semplicity, like sobriety, it's elegance. He said Balzac, who loved to write with simplicity, but with a narrative force that made him universal and eternal: «A man of good taste must be simple in his needs". Exactly: simple. Not indifferent, without ambitions, without dreams, without expectations (even financial, obviously). No, just simple: the same way, when success arrives, and when the wind turns against you. Simple meaning strong, solid, aware of one's own qualities but also of one's own limits. That's why, without absolutely wanting to compare our site to the value of Einaudi's music, we can say that also Don't waste, with its entire system of news, advice and reflections, it is a praise of simplicity.

Famous quotes about simplicity

  • "I could live in a nutshell, and feel like the king of infinite space." William Shakespeare

In life, quantity almost never makes a difference. Even in a small space, a great personality can be cultivated. And even from a small window, one can dream great things, and sometimes achieve them. The important thing is not to get puffed up, to keep your feet on the ground, and not to be dragged, when the wind turns in your favor, into the whirlpool of hubris, a form of delusion of omnipotence that the Greeks considered the gravest of human sins.

  • "Happiness is a small thing after all." Trilussa

The state of grace of happiness, a horizon rather than a destination, doesn't require great things. Sometimes it's the smallest things that give us the best surprises. And also the most unexpected.

  • «All ideas that have enormous consequences are simple ideas.» Lev Tolstoy
Sacred truth, for better or for worse. Two examples, in opposite directions. Christianity bases its doctrine on simple, very simple ideas: respect for the human person, their uniqueness, care for the weak and the vulnerable. Nazism also had its ideas, those that Simone Weil defined as the synthesis of the "banality of evil," and they were very simple in their dramatic perversion: they were based on the goal of destroying a part of humanity.
  • «The spirit of our age despises what is simple. It no longer believes that simplicity can correspond to depth.» Albert Schweitzer
This quote from this extraordinary man, a doctor, musician, and theologian, appears in a 1947 text, but it could have been written today. The world is complex, and there are no simple solutions in complicated situations. This is true, but it doesn't mean what most people think—that simplicity is synonymous with superficiality. The law of the multiplication tables always exists: one way to reduce problems, and try to solve them, is to break them down, simplify them, and address them in their essential parts. With effective simplicity.
  • “It is curious to see that almost all men who are worth a lot have simple manners; and that simple manners are almost always taken as a sign of little value.” Giacomo Leopardi
Simplicity is a typical quality that men, by wasting, reverses its meaning. person of value he is simple with naturalness, aware of his own qualities which he does not need to expose to swollen chestAt the same time, clichés lead to a reversal of the picture, whereby a simple person is foolishly considered of little value.

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