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121 " Generosity is an act of bravery. "
― Joshua Becker , The More of Less: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own
122 " The rules for parents are but three... love, limit, and let them be." —Elaine M. Ward "
― Joshua Becker , Clutterfree with Kids
123 " Civilization is a limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities.” – Mark Twain "
― Joshua Becker , Inside-Out Simplicity
124 " More time and energy — Whether we are making the money to buy them, researching and purchasing them, cleaning and organizing them, repairing them, replacing them, or selling them, our possessions consume our time and energy. So the fewer things we have, the more of our time and energy we’ll have left to devote to other pursuits that matter more to us. "
125 " Simplifying your life can be more than just removing physical belongings. If minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things that I most value, it is also about deciding what is most important in my life and removing the things that distract me from it. It is about removing the urgent for the sake of the important. Plain, "
― Joshua Becker , Simplify: 7 Guiding Principles to Help Anyone Declutter Their Home and Life
126 " as your minimizing frees up resources you can share, go ahead and give them away with freedom and joy. Your heart will feel warmer. The world will be a better place. And you will discover you never even needed the stuff in the first place. "
127 " So this very day, donate clothing you don’t wear, sporting equipment you don’t use, books you aren’t going to read, or furniture needlessly taking up space. Make a financial donation to a charity you support. Be generous with your time by volunteering at your local school, a homeless shelter, or the nonprofit of your choice. It’s the quickest shortcut I can suggest to having a life of impact. "
128 " William Morris says it this way: “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” 4 "
129 " In your process of removing the unneeded excess, you’ll want to develop your own working definition of clutter. Early in our minimizing journey, my wife and I began to define clutter as (a) too much stuff in too small a space, (b) anything that we no longer used or loved, and (c) anything that led to a feeling of disorganization. Feel free to rip off that definition if you want. But there are other definitions you might find resonate better with your ideals. For example, Joshua Fields Millburn defines clutter as anything that does not “add value” to his life.1 Marie Kondo describes clutter as those things in her home that do not “spark joy.” 2 Peter Walsh goes even further, saying that clutter is anything that “interferes with the life you could be living.” 3 And William Morris says it this way: “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” 4 "
130 " These, in review, are the baby steps to owning less: • Write down your goals. • Start decluttering with the easy targets in your lived-in areas. • Then go room by room, tossing out and tidying up. • Eliminate duplicates as you make your circuit. • Share your story with others to keep yourself motivated during and beyond the first steps. "
131 " Minimalism is about what it gives, not what it takes away. It’s the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from them. It’s a new way of living that fills us with hope. "
132 " Clutter is a form of visual distraction, and everything in our vision pulls at our attention at least a little. The less clutter, the less visual stress we have in our environments. A simple, minimalist home is calming. "
133 " For example, one of the things cluttering up the garage was a set of golf clubs. I rarely used them. Would I really be playing golf much in the future? If not, was it worth keeping a set of clubs around? I decided golf was not a high priority of mine, so I got rid of the clubs. "
134 " You don’t need more space. You need less stuff. "
― Joshua Becker , The Minimalist Home: A Room-By-Room Guide to a Decluttered, Refocused Life
135 " It feels better to do stuff than to have stuff. "
136 " At its core, minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of everything that distracts us from "
137 " Don’t just drift through life. Live intentionally and on purpose.” I "
138 " Sleep deprived new parents are an easy target for marketers. "
139 " Teach your kids to reject blind conformity. Because when they do, rarely will they discover their heart desires more money, possessions, fame, or power. It will usually ask for something far more countercultural than those. "
140 " To stop letting advertisers control our lives, we must be mentally prepared to counter their assault. "