Top 40 Joshua Fields Millburn Quotes (2024 Update)

1. “Minimalism is a tool to eliminate life’s excess, focus on the essentials, and find happiness, fulfillment, and freedom.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

2. “We only have a finite amount of time on this earth. It can be spent accumulating monetary wealth, or it can be spent in a meaningful way – the latter of which doesn’t necessarily preclude someone from the former, but the relentless pursuit of riches doesn’t lead to a meaningful life.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

3. “The most important reason to live in the moment is nothing lasts forever. Enjoy the moment while it’s in front of you. Be present. Accept life for what it is: a finite span of time with infinite possibilities.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

4. “People often avoid the truth for fear of destroying the illusions they’ve built.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

5. “Adding value to someone else’s life is one of the most important things you can do with your life, and it has nothing to do with money.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

6. “Happiness comes from within, from inside yourself, from living a meaningful life.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

7. “Love people, use things. The opposite doesn’t work.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

8. “Go without. This option is almost taboo in our culture. It seems radical to many people. Why would I go without when I could just buy a new one? Often this option is the best option, though. When we go without, it forces us to question our stuff, it forces us to discover whether or not we need it – and sometimes we discover life without it is actually better than before.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

9. “Careers are dangerous because people invest so much of themselves into their careers that they establish an identity and a social status based upon where they work and what they do for a living.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

10. “Unless you contribute beyond yourself, your life will feel perpetually self-serving. It’s okay to operate in your own self-interest, but doing so exclusively creates an empty existence. A life without contribution is a life without meaning. The truth is that giving is living. We only feel truly alive when we are growing as individuals and contributing beyond ourselves. That’s what a real life is all about.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

11. “Five Values that allow us to live a meaningful life: 1. Health 2. Relationships 3. Passions 4. Growth 5. Contribution.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

12. “For me, minimalism has never been about deprivation. Rather, minimalism is about getting rid of life’s excess in favor of the essential.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

13. “I know I might fail, but we all must fail from time to time – we have to figure out what doesn’t work so we can find out what does.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

14. “People work hard for two reasons: they are externally inspired, or they are internally motivated. Sometimes it’s a combination of both.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

15. “Minimalism looks different for everyone because it’s about finding what is essential to you.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

16. “An extraordinary life – a life to be proud of – is a decision. Not a single decision, but a myriad of little decisions each day. Daily decisions about money and health and passion and contribution. One day at a time.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

17. “People will judge. Let them. Judgment is but a mirror reflecting the insecurities of the person who’s doing the judging.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

18. “Minimalism is a tool we use to live a meaningful life. There are no rules. Rather, minimalism is simply about stripping away the unnecessary things in your life so you can focus on what’s important.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

19. “Heads tilt downward, faces lost in glowing screens, technology turning people into zombies.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

20. “When purchasing gifts becomes the focal point of the season, we lose focus on what’s truly important.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

21. “You needn’t settle for a mediocre life just because the people around you did.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

22. “I’m driving slowly, careful to avoid speeding through life – my life – no longer wasting my summers waiting for snow, my winters waiting for sun, taking each season as it comes, appreciating the warmth of the sun, the cleansing of the snow.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

23. “Without a vision, you will settle for whatever is in front of you. Ergo, you need a distinct vision of what you want your relationships to be – what you want your relationships to look like. If your vision is compelling enough, you’ll do anything to make it a reality.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

24. “There is more joy and fulfillment in pursuing less than can be found in pursuing more.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

25. “Minimalists don’t focus on having less, less, less. Rather, we focus on making room for more, more, more: more time, more passion, more experiences, more growth, more contribution, more contentment – and more freedom. It just so happens that clearing the clutter from life’s path helps us make that room.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

26. “If we are constantly consuming, then we are not creating.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

27. “The best way to give yourself a raise is to spend less money.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

28. “TV costs us a lot more than money. Time. TV viewing has robbed me of my time – my most precious asset. Even.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

29. “Real happiness comes from within.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

30. “We weren’t downsizing, we were uprising.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

31. “Busywork works well for factories, robots, and fascism, but not so great for anyone who’s attempting to do something worthwhile with their waking hours.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

32. “So instead of Going Viral, I focus on one thing: Adding Value. These.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

33. “There’s an old saying that “hurt people hurt people,” and that’s what’s happening whenever we walk around infecting the world with negativity.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

34. “Ultimately, minimalism is the thing that gets us past the things so we can focus on life’s most important things – which actually aren’t things at all.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

35. “If the past equaled the future, then your windshield would be of no use to you; you would simply drive your car with your eyes glued to the rearview mirror.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

36. “Your identity should come from your meaningful life, not from how you earn a paycheck.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

37. “We all know that possessions do not equal happiness. It’s just that we’ve been told this lie for so long that we start to believe it, our hearts start to buy into it, and it begins to affect the way we live our lives.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

38. “Can I get something? Pleeeease!” “What do you want?” “I don’t know – anything!” That’s what consumerism does to everyone. We don’t know what we want, but we know we want more, and we want it now.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

39. “But here’s the deal. You want people to love you for who you are, not who you portray yourself to.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

40. “Minimalism is a practice of intentional living.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

41. “Millions of years of hominid evolution have not prepared us for Instagram.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

42. “When we appreciate others for who they are, not who we want them to be, then, and only then, will we understand.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

43. “A better life is waiting on the other side of jealousy.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn

44. “Black coffee is a synecdoche for life: when you eliminate the excess – when you deliberately avoid life’s empty calories – what remains is exponentially more delicious, more enjoyable, more worthwhile. It might be a bitter shock at first; but, much like coffee, a meaningful life is an acquired taste. Sip slowly and enjoy.”

— Joshua Fields Millburn