The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.

Living well, on this view, is less a matter of gathering more than of learning what to leave out. Wisdom is pictured as a kind of editing: the clutter of obligations, possessions, opinions and ambitions piles up on its own, and the real skill lies in noticing which things carry meaning and letting the rest fall away. Nothing is added; clarity comes from subtraction.

Lin Yutang, the Chinese writer who spent much of his career explaining Chinese thought to English-speaking readers, drew on Taoist and Confucian traditions that prize simplicity, moderation and an unhurried enjoyment of ordinary life. Taoism in particular distrusts striving and excess, and he often defended leis