Q0265
“Simplify, simplify.” — Henry David Thoreau (Walden, Where I Lived)
Verified English quotation. Primary source: Walden, Where I Lived. Theme: philosophy.
English
Simplify, simplify.
Source and attribution
The archive attributes this English wording to Walden, Where I Lived and files it under Transcendentalism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
About Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) was an American essayist, naturalist, and political dissenter of the Concord Transcendentalist circle. Walden (1854) recounts deliberate life at Walden Pond; “Civil Disobedience” justifies refusal of unjust tax.
Interpretation
Thoreau's repetition is half-ironic — he is mocking himself for preaching — but the claim is serious. At Walden he reduced his expenses to the point where the question of how to live was no longer settled by the need to earn. Simplification is thus a method rather than an aesthetic: it removes the considerations that crowd out the ones he wants to examine. The experiment was designed to find out what remained once the rest was cut.
Why it matters
The practical version is diagnostic: how many of your current commitments exist to pay for other commitments? Removing those is often cheaper than earning more.
How to cite this quotation
APA: Henry David Thoreau. (n.d.). Simplify, simplify. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0265
MLA: Henry David Thoreau. “Simplify, simplify..” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0265.
Chicago: Henry David Thoreau. “Simplify, simplify..” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0265.
Frequently asked questions
What is the source of the quotation “Simplify, simplify.”?
The passage is attributed to Henry David Thoreau, Walden, Where I Lived. The archive attributes this English wording to Walden, Where I Lived and files it under Transcendentalism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
What does Henry David Thoreau mean by philosophy?
This passage is indexed under . Those labels identify the concepts it can illuminate; they do not replace the argument surrounding it in Walden, Where I Lived.