Virginia Woolf Quotes

Most of what we say and do is not essential. If you can eliminate it, you'll have more time, and more tranquillity. Ask yourself at every moment, 'Is this necessary?'

Most of what we say and do is unnecessary: remove the superfluity, and you will have more time and less bother. So in every case one should prompt oneself: 'Is this, or is it not, something necessary?' And the removal of the unnecessary should apply not only to actions but to thoughts also: then no redundant actions either will follow.

A simple life is not seeing how little we can get by with-that's poverty-but how efficiently we can put first things first. . . . When you're clear about your purpose and your priorities, you can painlessly discard whatever does not support these, whether it's clutter in your cabinets or commitments on your calendar. (148)

Simplifying our lives does not mean sinking into idleness, but on the contrary, getting rid of the most subtle aspect of laziness: the one which makes us take on thousands of less important activities.

I'm really proud of myself because I've pared my beauty regimen down to a cream blush and berry-tinted lip balm, which has saved me so much time.

I cannot afford to waste my time making money.

The whole business of marshaling one's energies becomes more and more important as one grows older.

After a while, you just don't do things you don't wanna do - that's the great freedom you get, the older you get. You learn what to do and what not to do, and what will be a waste of time and what won't be a waste of time.

I don't put the focus on things that don't matter.

Most people in business and within their personal lives move towards complexity. More To Dos. More projects. More products. More meetings. More possessions. More goals. The best - I suggest to you - move in the opposite direction.

I'm known for having a very small to-do list and a big don't-do list.

The older I get, the more I desire simplicity.

As I've got older, I've got slightly more fussy. You've got less time; you need to use it wisely.

... life is too short to do the whole.

Just a few words on time management: forget all about it.

A man that is young in years may be old in hours if he have lost no time.

It's important to keep life simple, and if I'm traveling, I only can do a couple of things, and those are the things that I'm meant to be doing.

Live uncluttered lives so you could have time for what is most important.

There is but one art, to omit! Oh, if I knew how to omit I would ask no other knowledge. A man who knows how to omit would make an Iliad of a daily paper.

I soon learned to scent out that which was able to lead to fundamentals and to turn aside from everything else, from the multitude of things which clutter up the mind and divert it from the essential.

... and you can only have 2 or 3 things everyday, because everything else will just come at you; you know fires in a day.

If you don't have time, the truth is, you don't have priorities. Think harder; don't work harder.

You get the most out of what you need the least.

Waste neither time nor money, but make the best use of both.

If you are going to have less things, they have to be great things.