Quotation by William Morris

Simplicity of life, even the barest, is not a misery, but the very foundation of refinement; a sanded floor and whitewashed walls and the green trees, and flowery meads, and living waters outside; or a grimy palace amid the same with a regiment of housemaids always working to smear the dirt together so that it may be unnoticed; which, think you, is the most refined, the most fit for a gentleman of those two dwellings?
William Morris (1834–1896), British artist, writer, printer. "The Lesser Arts," Hopes and Fears for Art (1882).

Morris's first public lecture, "The Decorative Arts: Their Relation to Modern Life and Progress."
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