Confucius on simple thinking

A little eastern influx here;

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”
– Confucius, chinese philosopher, 551-479 bce.

It really speaks for itself, but one could maybe add “making it complicated” by practical choice or the perception of things. The same concept is covered by many western thinkers like Aurelius or Epicurus, or implicit in the biology-view of human nature by Aristotle.

One could also add that citylife and industrial society have made the complications of sorting out things almost beyond reach. The city-state of ancient times seems to be a more simple place to learn and recognize the political, cultural, social and biological forces shaping the everyday life of people in the streets. Which is probably why, again, we tend to look some time back in history for knowledge and wisdom. It’s hard to think and percieve simple if the days are too inconsistent and contradictory.

But it’s still some comfort to know that people made things complicated two and a half thousand years ago as well. It’s just the workings of the brain probably..