Tidying Quotes

“It is not our memories but the person we have become because of those experiences that we should treasure. This is the lesson these keepsakes teach us when we sort them. The space in which we live should be for the person we are becoming now, not for the person we were in the past.”
― Marie Kondō

“After Your Death

First, I emptied the closets of your clothes,
threw out the bowl of fruit, bruised
from your touch, left empty the jars

you bought for preserves. The next morning,
birds rustled the fruit trees, and later
when I twisted a ripe fig loose from its stem,

I found it half eaten, the other side
already rotting, or—like another I plucked
and split open—being taken from the inside:

a swarm of insects hollowing it. I’m too late,
again, another space emptied by loss.
Tomorrow, the bowl I have yet to fill.”
― Natasha Trethewey, Monument: Poems New and Selected

“The space in which we live should be for the person we are becoming now. Not for the person we were in the past.”
― Marie Kondō, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

“When God created us, he founded
His living nature for our home;
But you sit in this gloom, surrounded
By mildred skull and arid bone.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Urfaust

“I did all that with my little hatchet.”
― Stella Gibbons, Cold Comfort Farm

“What was worth saving? Not as much as you’d anticipated, once you got into the spirit of paperlessness. Pile up those mine carts with fool’s gold. The thing that’s worth keeping is the thing you do next.”
― Nick Paumgarten

“The garbage can is for things that have no importance. If it did have some value, it no longer has any.”
― J.R. Rim

“There are those who get out and live life, and there are those who stay home and clean their house.

And there are those that call one virtuous and one whimsical and irresponsible.

And there are those like us that call it your choice in the way you live your life.
You get to choose.
Nobody else.”
― Abraham Hicks

“What is causing you to put things down "for now"? Are you feeling too rushed in your everyday life? Is there never a chance to reset?
As you go through the process of clearing out your clutter, you will see that things become easier to put away when there is a home for them and that home is easier to access.
When you are tempted to put something down, ask yourself, "Will I really have more time to deal with this later? Will I know where to find this later when I'm looking for it?"
Be kind to your future self and put it away now. Next week you will thank me.”
― Kathi Lipp, Clutter Free: Quick and Easy Steps to Simplifying Your Space

“My basic principle for sorting papers is to throw them all away. My clients are stunned when I say this, bu there is nothing more annoying than papers. After all, they will never inspire joy, no matter how carefully you keep them.”
― Marie Kondō, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

“Polly was all too aware that much of her time on holiday would be spent doing the laundry and the cooking and the child-care and all the other chores that back in London would be shared with her cleaning lady. A holiday with Theo and the children represented two weeks of domestic and maternal drudgery.”
― Amanda Craig, A Vicious Circle

“In the elimination of things, you will find yourself cutting unnecessary items and overhead from your life and business.”
― Richie Norton

“A TIDY SPELL"

I've just been through a tidy spell,
I tell you it's a verity,
I've sorted out the things to keep,
The things to give to charity.

I've sorted out my ties and belts,
I've sorted out my shirts,
I've sorted out my coats and slacks---
To part with some it hurts.

I've sorted out my shoes and socks,
I've sorted out my shorts,
I've sorted out so much, in fact,
That now I'm out of sorts.
-by Richard Armour”
― Richard Armour

“Just as you would greet for family or your pet, say, 'Hello! I'm home,' to your house when you return. If you forget when you walk in the door, then later, when you remember, say, 'Thank you for giving me shelter.”
― Marie Kondō, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

“Just as you would greet your family or your pet, say, 'Hello! I'm home,' to your house when you return. If you forget when you walk in the door, then later, when you remember, say, 'Thank you for giving me shelter.”
― Marie Kondō, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

“Express your appreciation to every item that supported you during the day.”
― Marie Kondō, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying / Joy at Work

“The true purpose of tidying is not to cut down on your possessions or declutter your space. The ultimate goal is to spark joy every day and lead a joyful life.”
― Marie Kondō, Kurashi at Home: How to Organize Your Space and Achieve Your Ideal Life

“She said she did not tidy up if someone came to see her, for she was that way and if her friends could not accept it they could not accept her. Besides, she said, she know just in which layer were the things she wanted.”
― Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Bring Me a Unicorn: Diaries and Letters of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1922-1928