There are two ways to be rich - one in the abundance of your possessions and the other in the fewness of your wants.

Miss Mills replied, on general principles, that the Cottage of content was better than the Palace of cold splendour, and that where love was, all was.

When love turns into dust, money becomes the substitution.

Part of the beauty of the monastic life lies in the ability to live simply with few desires and to consume only what you need.

Contempt is conceived with expectations. Respect is conceived with expressions of gratitude. We can choose which one we will obsess over-expectations, or thanksgivings. That choice will result in a birth-and the child will be named either contempt, or respect.

Just be ordinary and nothing special. Eat your food, move your bowels, pass water, and when you're tired, go and lie down. The ignorant will laugh at me, but the wise will understand.

Let not your mind run on what you lack as much as on what you have already.

Of course it's trivial, but then most things are.

It is neither wealth nor splendor; but tranquility and occupation which give you happiness.

LXXXI ABBOT PASTOR was asked by a certain brother: How should I conduct myself in the place where I live? The elder replied: Be as cautious as a stranger; wherever you may be, do not desire your word to have power before you, and you will have rest.

any fool knows that you don't need money to get enjoyment out of life.

In choosing a bare bones existence, we are enriched, and can redefine success as an internal process rather than an outward display of wealth and power.