25 historical philosophers

Here’s a list of 25 historical philosophers or religious figures who recommend minimalism or living with less as a path to spirituality, with a quote from each.

Lao Tzu (Taoism): “Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires.”
Gautama Buddha (Buddhism): “Contentment is the greatest wealth.”
Socrates (Greek Philosophy): “He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.”
Diogenes of Sinope (Cynicism): “He has the most who is content with the least.”
Jesus Christ (Christianity): “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
St. Francis of Assisi (Christianity): “He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.”
Rabbi Eliezer (Judaism): “Who is rich? He who rejoices in his portion.”
Marcus Aurelius (Stoicism): “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.”
Seneca (Stoicism): “It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.”
Epictetus (Stoicism): “Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.”
Henry David Thoreau (Transcendentalism): “I make myself rich by making my wants few.”
Mahatma Gandhi (Indian Independence Movement): “Live simply so that others may simply live.”
Albert Schweitzer (Theologian): “In our rich consumers’ civilization we spin cocoons around ourselves and get possessed by our possessions.”
Mother Teresa (Christianity): “The more you have, the more you are occupied, the less you give.”
Confucius (Confucianism): “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”
Zhuangzi (Taoism): “Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness.”
Leo Tolstoy (Christian Anarchism): “There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth.”
Swami Vivekananda (Hinduism): “The less you possess, the less you want, the better you are.”
Francis de Sales (Christianity): “Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.”
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Philosophy): “Luxury is a remedy that is worse than the disease.”
Plato (Greek Philosophy): “The greatest wealth is to live content with little.”
Rumi (Sufism): “Be empty of worrying. Think of who created thought!”
Meister Eckhart (Christian Mysticism): “Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.”
Shunryu Suzuki (Zen Buddhism): “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.”
Epicurus (Epicureanism): “If you wish to make Pythocles wealthy, don’t give him more money; rather, reduce his desires.”

Each of these figures, in their way and within their cultural and historical contexts, has espoused values and teachings that align with the principles of minimalism and simplicity, underscoring these concepts’ universal and timeless nature.