Top 50 Fumio Sasaki Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “When given too many choices, people tend to worry that there’s something better out there than what they decided on.”

— Fumio Sasaki

2. “Discard anything that creates visual noise. The objects I have at home are white, beige, gray, and the colors of wood, pleasing to the eye and in harmony among themselves. The balance is disrupted when I have something in a flashy neon color or a primary color that’s too bold; they stand out too much and disturb the peaceful atmosphere.”

— Fumio Sasaki

3. “If it’s not a “hell, yes!” it’s a “no.”

— Fumio Sasaki

4. “Minimalism is built around the idea that there’s nothing that you’re lacking.”

— Fumio Sasaki

5. “Our possessions are supposed to be our tools. They were used for such purposes during the Stone Age. As time went by, our world became plentiful and objects began to be used for another purpose: to enable us to affirm our own worth.”

— Fumio Sasaki

6. “Minimalism is not a goal. Reducing the number of possessions that you have is not a goal unto itself. I think minimalism is a method for individuals to find the things that are entirely important to them. It’s a prologue for crafting your own unique story.”

— Fumio Sasaki

7. “There’s another benefit to a minimalist wardrobe. Because we choose items that are timeless, we don’t need to worry about being out of style.”

— Fumio Sasaki

8. “Fight Club: “The things you own end up owning you.”

— Fumio Sasaki

9. “The Buddhist monk Ryunosuke Koike says he puts his hand against his chest when he’s not sure about an item, and it will feel uncomfortable if the item is merely something that he wants. This discomfort is a symptom of dissatisfaction, of the mistaken belief that there is something missing from his life even though he already has everything he needs.”

— Fumio Sasaki

10. “The Great East Japan Earthquake was said to be so large that it should only happen once every thousand years. I recall hearing someone say that our history from the year 0 through 2000 is the equivalent of twenty old ladies living to the age of one hundred. If that earthquake really was a once-in-a-thousand-years event, it would mean that two of those twenty old ladies would have been affected. Is that a high ratio or is it low?”

— Fumio Sasaki

11. “Neither the past nor the future actually exists. There’s only an eternal present, and you can only experience the now.”

— Fumio Sasaki

12. “Things don’t just sit there. They send us silent messages. And the more the item has been neglected, the stronger its message will be. Maybe.”

— Fumio Sasaki

13. “If you really want to change something, the only way to do it is to start changing this very moment. There’s really no tomorrow, and no next week to look forward to. Once tomorrow comes, it’s going to be today. A year from now will be today when the time comes. Everything is in the now. By.”

— Fumio Sasaki

14. “The Japanese painter Ryuzaburo Umehara left a will saying that there was no need for a funeral and that condolence offerings were not to be accepted. He wrote that the living should not be troubled for the sake of the deceased.”

— Fumio Sasaki

15. “I’ve heard it said that the secret to a happy marriage is to simply talk a lot with your partner. One study showed that happily married couples talked with each other five more hours per week than couples that aren’t happy. If people are busy taking care of their possessions, quarreling over them, spending time in separate rooms, or watching a lot of TV, they’re naturally going to have less time for conversations.”

— Fumio Sasaki

16. “Why do we own so many things when we don’t need them? What is their purpose? I think the answer is quite clear: We’re desperate to convey our own worth, our own value to others. We use objects to tell people just how valuable we are.”

— Fumio Sasaki

17. “Take a minute to really focus on each item you can’t part with and ask yourself why. Is it because it was expensive? Is it because you feel guilty about throwing it away? Are you ashamed that you were never able to make good use of it? Do you feel bad for the person who gave it to you? Does it feel like you’re throwing away a fond memory that is attached to it? Is your vanity preventing you from parting with something? Or is it just easier to leave it where it is?”

— Fumio Sasaki

18. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. – STEVE JOBS.”

— Fumio Sasaki

19. “All these things eventually turn on us; we become slaves to our belongings, forced to spend time and energy caring for them.”

— Fumio Sasaki

20. “The things you own end up owning you.” A.”

— Fumio Sasaki

21. “Minimalism naturally narrows down your choices so you can arrive at quick decisions. Less.”

— Fumio Sasaki

22. “Things don’t just sit there. They send us silent messages.”

— Fumio Sasaki

23. “There’s a favorite quote of mine from Dale Carnegie’s How to Stop Worrying and Start Living that really sums up what was wrong with me: “I was trying to wash today’s dishes, yesterday’s dishes and dishes that weren’t even dirty yet.”

— Fumio Sasaki

24. “If you can’t make up your mind about an item, I suggest you go right ahead and discard it.”

— Fumio Sasaki

25. “You can avoid buying more things simply by first asking yourself if it’s something that you actually need.”

— Fumio Sasaki

26. “All of our possessions want to be cared for, and they tell us that every time we look at them.”

— Fumio Sasaki

27. “We can accumulate as much as we like, but without gratitude we’ll only end up being bored with everything we’ve obtained. Conversely, we can achieve true contentment with few possessions, just so long as we treat them with gratitude. The.”

— Fumio Sasaki

28. “Although it may seem like you’re losing your individuality when you part with your belongings, the reality seems to be the other way around. Take the people you see in old European photographs as an example. All the men are generally wearing the same types of suits and hats, and they’re all smoking cigarettes with the same sort of possessions around them. Yet the art and literature that those people created was incredibly original, to say the least.”

— Fumio Sasaki

29. “Minimalism is just the beginning. It’s a tool. Once you’ve gone ahead and minimized, it’s time to find out what those important things are. Minimalism.”

— Fumio Sasaki

30. “Getting rich doesn’t mean you will receive a special bonus and your days will become 25 hours long instead of 24.”

— Fumio Sasaki

31. “It’s the things you’d be willing to buy again that give you true satisfaction.”

— Fumio Sasaki

32. “I think our lives are better when our belongings stir our passions. As long as we stick to owning things that we really love, we aren’t likely to want more.”

— Fumio Sasaki

33. “Want to know how to make yourself instantly unhappy? Compare yourself with someone else.”

— Fumio Sasaki

34. “Most of those “nicer things,” and the money we need for them, are just for show. We’re driven by pride rather than need. Have.”

— Fumio Sasaki

35. “When we have fewer possessions, these silent messages will, quite naturally, become fewer as well. Without the pile, there’s less effort required to prioritize these messages, and if we do receive a message or two, we have the capacity to respond right away.”

— Fumio Sasaki

36. “Minimalism had to be born, not out of a mere spur-of-the-moment idea or yearning for a new lifestyle, but from an earnest desire and fervent need to rethink our lives.”

— Fumio Sasaki

37. “But that judgment of “Ugh, you still own so much. How lame!” is exactly the same mind-set as “Ugh, you still don’t have this. How lame!” There.”

— Fumio Sasaki

38. “When you think about it, it’s experience that builds our unique characteristics, not material objects.”

— Fumio Sasaki

39. “We think we can’t become a minimalist until our lives have settled down. But it’s actually the other way around; we won’t be able to settle down until we’re having a minimalist life.”

— Fumio Sasaki

40. “I don’t think it’s possible to prove what others may be thinking.”

— Fumio Sasaki

41. “Ask yourself which of your items would truly be necessary if you were to start with zero belongings. What if everything you owned was stolen? What if you had to move next week? Which items would you take with you? There are probably a lot of things we have sitting around in our homes for no particular reason. Think about starting from scratch, and it will become clear which items are essential.”

— Fumio Sasaki

42. “A friend of mine says he grins every time he fails at something. To him, failing is discovering a method that won’t work, and it brings you one step closer to succeeding. find many methods that don’t work and one day, you’ll find a method that does. Seen this way, failure is almost the same as success.”

— Fumio Sasaki

43. “Seriously, minimalists have no possessions that they are scared to lose. That gives them the optimism and courage to take risks. Experiences.”

— Fumio Sasaki

44. “Happiness isn’t a state that we win by accomplishing certain criteria. Happiness is something that can only be felt in this moment. You.”

— Fumio Sasaki

45. “The glory of acquisition starts to dim with use, eventually changing to boredom as the item no longer elicits even a bit of excitement. This is the pattern of everything in our lives. No matter how much we wish for something, over time it becomes a normal part of our lives, and then a tired old item that bores us, even though we did actually get our wish. And we end up being unhappy.”

— Fumio Sasaki

46. “The desire to discard and the desire to possess are flip sides of the same coin. It.”

— Fumio Sasaki

47. “When you’re aware of all the things that you own, you’re not only certain of where they are, you’re also sure about whether you have them or not.”

— Fumio Sasaki

48. “The objective of a diet is to find a lifestyle that is sustainable without suffering.”

— Fumio Sasaki

49. “Minimalism is not a rite of penance, nor is it a competitive sport. It is simply a means to an end.”

— Fumio Sasaki

50. “You won’t tire as quickly of objects that are easier on the eyes and less stimulating, and they can generally be used for longer periods of time.”

— Fumio Sasaki