Wagner turns simplification into a practical test: remove secondary burdens so attention and effort can return to what is genuinely essential.
The Simple Life, Chapter II, Mary Louise Hendee translation, Project Gutenberg #23092; the phrase appears in Wagner’s argument for returning attention to essentials.
“The mind is its own place.”
The statement emphasizes how mental framing can alter the experience of circumstances, for good or ill.
Paradise Lost (1667), Book I, line 254; retained legacy short extract from the fuller Satan sentence beginning ‘The mind is its own place’ and continuing into line 255. It is the same underlying passage as the longer catalog record, not a separate fifth passage.
“the plain duty is the near duty.”
When responsibilities compete, Wagner recommends beginning with the obligation that is actually present and actionable instead of escaping into distant abstractions.
The Simple Life, Chapter V, “Simple Duty,” Mary Louise Hendee translation, Project Gutenberg #23092; the phrase condenses his argument about nearby obligations.
“Very little indeed is necessary for living a happy life.”
The line challenges the assumption that a good life requires constant accumulation or ideal circumstances.
Meditations, Book VII, in George Long’s translation.
“Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.”
The line criticizes unnecessary complexity and argues for protecting attention from endless small demands.
Walden, “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For.”
“The only cure is to reconstitute the programme, and to attempt less.”
When a schedule becomes oppressive, Bennett recommends reducing the plan rather than allowing the plan itself to dominate the person it was meant to help.
How to Live on 24 Hours a Day, “Dangers to Avoid.” Bennett is warning against becoming enslaved to an over-ambitious personal programme; “attempt less” is adjustment advice, not a general rejection of ambition.
“Murder your darlings.”
The memorable command advises writers to delete showy passages they love when those passages serve vanity or ornament more than the work as a whole.
On the Art of Writing, Lecture XII, “On Style,” Project Gutenberg #17470; the phrase concludes Quiller-Couch’s warning against purchased or extraneous ornament.
