Read these poems about living a simple life for encouragement and thoughts on why a simpler lifestyle may be better.
These poems remind us that living a simple life can help us
uncomplicate our lives. They are the thoughts of others for inspiration and motivation, true food for thought on life and how we live it. Feel free to share these poems with others.
No idle gold - since this fine sun, my friend,
Is no mean miser, but doth freely spend.
No precious stones - since these green mornings show,
Without a charge, their pearls where'er I go.
No lifeless books - since birds with their sweet tongues
Will read aloud to me their happier songs.
No painted scenes - since clouds can change their skies
A hundred times a day to please my eyes.
No headstrong wine - since, when I drink, the spring
Into my eager ears will softly sing.
No surplus clothes - since every simple beast
Can teach me to be happy with the least.
A little more kindness, a little less creed
A little more giving, a little less greed
A little more smile, a little less frown
A little less kicking, A man when he's down
A little more "we" a little less "I",
A little more laugh, a little less cry,
A little more flowers on the pathway of life
And fewer on graves at the end of the strife.
Simplicity deepens life.
It magnifies the simple virtues
On which man's survival depends:
humility, faith, courage, serenity,
honesty, patience, justice, tolerance, thrift.
Simplicity is the arrow
Of the spirit.
Treasure the simple things life gives to us all
Don't always be wanting, otherwise, you will fall.
Stop and appreciate the small things every day
Take time to stop and smell the flowers on your way.
Living a simple life can bring much joy
You don't need more, you don't need all the toys
If you find contentment with where you are
You will be happier than others by far.
You see living a simple life allows you to see
Nature around you, the honeybee
You appreciate the beauty in the sky
You are not trying to keep up with the other guy.
Making time for relationships too
For they are important in all we do
Family and friends made you who you are
Spend time with them, don't keep them afar.
You see at the end of the day
When you look back and can say
What was important and what was the best
You'll find the simple things outdid the rest.
I might not ever scale the mountain heights
Where all the great men stand in glory now;
I may not ever gain the world's delights
Or win a wreath of laurel for my brow;
I may not gain the victories that men
Are fighting for, nor do a thing to boast of;
I may not get a fortune here, but then.
The little that I have I'll make the most of.
I'll make my little home a palace fine.
My little patch of green a garden fair.
And I shall know each humble plant and vine
As rich men know their orchid blossoms rare.
My little home may not be much to see;
Its chimneys may not tower far above;
But it will be a mansion great to me,
For in its walls I'll keep a hoard of love.
I will not pass my modest pleasures by
To grasp at shadows of more splendid things,
Disdaining what of joyousness is nigh
Because I am denied the joy of kings.
But I will laugh and sing my way along,
I'll make the most of what is mine to-day,
And if I never rise above the throng,
I shall have lived a full life anyway.