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Anche se il pensiero è semplice, esprime quello che lo spirito vuole.

Anche se il pensiero è semplice, esprime quello che lo spirito vuole.
Even if the thought is simple, it expresses what the spirit wants.
From Lesson 155:Compound relative pronouns (quello che, ciò che)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Anche se il pensiero è semplice, esprime quello che lo spirito vuole.

Why do we use quello che here instead of just cosa for "what"?
In Italian, cosa or che cosa is used for asking questions (like "What do you want?"). When "what" is a statement meaning "that which" or "the thing that" connecting two parts of a sentence, you must use the compound relative pronoun quello che or ciò che.
Why is the article lo used in lo spirito instead of il?
You must use the definite article lo instead of il for masculine singular words that start with an "s" followed by another consonant. Because spirito starts with "sp", it takes lo.
Why does Anche se use the regular present tense (è) here? Doesn't "if" sometimes need a special tense?
Anche se means "even if" or "even though". When it states a real, concrete fact (the thought is actually simple), it just takes the normal indicative tense. You only need the subjunctive mood (a more advanced topic) for imaginary or highly unlikely scenarios.
Where is the word for "it" before esprime?
Italian usually drops subject pronouns like "it". The verb esprime is in the third-person singular form, and context tells us the subject doing the expressing is il pensiero (the thought) from the first half of the sentence.

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