Saturday, December 20, 2003

Simplexity

I wonder why, for most people, simplicity equates to plainess, inferiority, stupidity. The simplest thing is often closest to the most perfect. Short stories are to novels as champagne is to beer. In novels, the author simply throws words at you until some of them make an impact. In short stories, every word counts.

In great simplicity, there is often great complexity. It is the closest one can possibly get to perfection. For instance, a single strand of string can become a complicated knot. A straight line cannot be drawn freehand.

Basically, only through complexity can we find true simplicity. So the conception that simplicity is easy, plain, stupid is wrong. Simplicity is underated, understated, flawless. It is perfection.

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