Basil of Caesarea Quotes

Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires.

I love the idea of living a life that is completely humble and quiet.

I used to desire many, many things, but now I have just one desire, and that's to get rid of all my other desires.

Be satisfied with needs instead of wants.

I am totally unattached to material items.

With renunciation life begins.

I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind.

The more you learn to live without, the more you'll have to live with.

Asceticism doesn't lie in mere words; He is an ascetic who treats everyone alike. Asceticism doesn't lie in visiting burial places; it lies not in wandering about nor in bathing at places of pilgrimage. Asceticism is to remain pure amidst impurities.

I like simplicity almost to the point of being monastic.

We shall have to practise to lead our life on the basis of our needs, not under the influence of our greed.

Become simple and live simply, not only within yourself but also in your everyday dealings. Don’t make ripples all around you, don’t try to be interesting, keep your distance, be honest, fight the desire to be thought fascinating by the outside world.

Freedom is not having everything we crave, it's being able to go without the things we crave and being OK with it.

I grew with it, and I used to go to see the monks, who had no possessions, even more extreme than my mother.

It is the privilege of the gods to want nothing, and of godlike men to want little.

The Quaker upbringing was not strict, but it was frugal. Extremely frugal. One was always encouraged to give away one's worldly goods.

So, at the age of nine, I became a monk, and from then on I was there practicing that kind of nonviolence.

Man falls from the pursuit of the ideal of plan living and high thinking the moment he wants to multiply his daily wants. Man's happiness really lies in contentment.

The good and the wise lead quiet lives.

If you want to be happy, live discreetly. Does that make sense in English?

I'm not an ascetic.

I have learned to seek my happiness by limiting my desires, rather than in attempting to satisfy them.

I really don't require a whole lot in life.

I'm no Buddhist monk, and I can't say I'm in love with renunciation in itself, or traveling an hour or more to print out an article I've written, or missing out on the N.B.A. Finals. But at some point, I decided that, for me at least, happiness arose out of all I didn't want or need, not all I did.

Man must do his part and detach himself from created things.