My husband and I make good money but we're constantly stressed about it. We have a nice house with a big mortgage. Two cars with payments. Subscriptions to everything. We eat out three times a week because we're too tired to cook. I've been reading about minimalism and feel called to simplify—sell the house, move to something smaller, cook at home, reduce consumption. My husband thinks I'm being extreme. He says we've "earned" our lifestyle and the answer is just to make more money. But here's the thing: when I imagine a simpler life, I imagine it being boring. I love trying new restaurants. I love hosting dinner parties. I love having nice things. Can you be a minimalist and still enjoy the pleasures of life? — Too Much of Everything in Minneapolis
Simplicity versus pleasure. Brillat-Savarin's philosophy of enjoyment meets Thoreau's deliberate living.
My husband and I make good money but we're constantly stressed about it. We have a nice house with a big mortgage. Two cars with payments. Subscriptions to everything. We eat out three times a week because we're too tired to cook. I've been reading about minimalism and feel called to simplify—sell the house, move to something smaller, cook at home, reduce consumption. My husband thinks I'm being extreme. He says we've "earned" our lifestyle and the answer is just to make more money. But here's the thing: when I imagine a simpler life, I imagine it being boring. I love trying new restaurants. I love hosting dinner parties. I love having nice things. Can you be a minimalist and still enjoy the pleasures of life? — Too Much of Everything in Minneapolis
Brillat-Savarin
"Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are—pleasure is philosophy"
44 votes
Henry David Thoreau
"Simplify, simplify—our life is frittered away by detail"
46 votes
90 votes total
Full Positions
From The Physiology of Taste; Or, Transcendental Gastronomy
"Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are—pleasure is philosophy"
The pleasures of the table belong to all ages, all conditions, all countries. The problem is not enjoyment but mindless consumption. Host fewer dinner parties, but make each one memorable. Eat out less often, but savor every bite when you do.
From Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience
"Simplify, simplify—our life is frittered away by detail"
Most people live lives of quiet desperation because they've accumulated obligations they never chose. Your subscriptions, your payments, your stress—these are chains you put on yourself. True pleasure requires freedom, and freedom requires simplicity.