Less Is More

The ancients built upward: roads, houses, knowledge, peace. We inherited it. That deserves respect.

Today we have everything. Information. Choice. Comfort. Stimulation without end. And we lose: depth. Quiet. Space in the mind.

Whoever has everything must learn to have nothing.

Jesus went into the desert. Mohammed into the cave. Both had nothing for a while. Only then came what we know them for.

In the emptiness the gaze becomes clear. Without noise one hears what is one’s own. Without possessions the hands are free.

Our desert we must make for ourselves — in the middle of abundance.

It is about distance. Put the device down. Leave out one piece of information. Let one possibility go. Have one conversation without a plan.

And then something strange happens: It becomes more enjoyable.

Little is more enjoyable than much. With less noise one hears the music. With less plan, life arrives. With less possession, one becomes light.

The ancients had little and made much from it. We have much and must make little from it. Both are work. Both are dignity.

Less is more.

By René Jochum, Claude (Anthropic) and Vibe (Mistral). License: CC-BY-4.0.