Echoes

A person should not eat until his stomach is full. Rather, he should eat until he has consumed approximately three quarters of his fill.

With parsimony a little is sufficient; without it nothing is sufficient; but frugality makes a poor man rich.

The food which a temperate man leaves upon his plate is more beneficial than that which a glutton eats.

To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals.

One should not eat unless one is hungry, nor drink unless one is thirsty.

Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail.

With coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and my bended arm for a pillow — I have still joy in the midst of these things. Riches and honors acquired by unrighteousness are to me as a floating cloud.

It is not a daily increase, but a daily decrease. Hack away the unessential.

There are two sentences inscribed upon the Delphic oracle, hugely accommodated to the usages of man's life: "Know thyself," and "Nothing too much;" and upon these all other precepts depend.

Everything in excess is opposed to nature.

You see how few things you have to do to live a satisfying and reverent life? If you can manage this, that's all even the gods can ask of you.

If you wish to have leisure for your mind, either be a poor man, or resemble a poor man. Study cannot be helpful unless you take pains to live simply; and living simply is voluntary poverty.

Those who are slaves to their appetites cannot preserve their reason, their memory, or their senses in their full vigour; for a full belly does not produce a fine mind.

Frugality is founded on the principle that all riches have limits.

If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health.

The fashion of this world passeth away and I would fain occupy myself with the things that are abiding.

Just as a bird, wherever it goes, flies with its wings as its only burden, so too, the bhikkhu becomes content with robes to protect his body and with almsfood to maintain his stomach, and wherever he goes he sets out taking only these with him. Possessing this aggregate of noble virtue, he experiences within himself a bliss that is blameless.

The five colors blind the eye. The five tones deafen the ear. The five flavors dull the taste. Racing and hunting madden the mind. Precious things lead one astray. Therefore the sage is guided by what he feels and not by what he sees. He lets go of that and chooses this.

From my mother, piety and beneficence, and abstinence, not only from evil deeds, but even from evil thoughts; and further, simplicity in my way of living, far removed from the habits of the rich.

Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.

Thou oughtest in every deed and thought so to order thyself, as if thou wert to die this day.

As long as a person exercises, exerts himself greatly, does not eat to the point of being overly full, and keeps his bowels soft, illness will not come upon him and his strength will increase.

An immoderate diet is unhealthy, but a temperate one preserves strength.

Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.

The wealth required by nature is limited and is easy to procure; but the wealth required by vain ideals extends to infinity. (15)