In products of the human mind, simplicity marks the end of a process of refining, while complexity marks a primitive stage. Michelangelo’s definition of art as the purgation of superfluities suggests that the creative effort consists largely in the elimination of that which complicates and confuses a pattern.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Notebook Entry (1954)
In "Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook" by Tom Bethell, Harper's Magazine (July 2005)