Plain Living: A Quaker Path to Simplicity

Plain living is a new favorite book of mine. It is as the other reviews state a book of sayings by quaker authors in collections by subject. I put it on my bedside table and read a couple of pages at night and find it grounding and reflective of the way I would like to conduct my life and myself. The authors are a broad group of individuals with differing view points but yet they find commonality in the willingness to accept others where they are in their process and at the same time, broaden perceptions of the world around us and our part in it. I have already given this book to a friend looking to understand more of how quakers think and will keep it close to my bed for moments when I would like to settle down and in.
Julie Senko

This one is sort of a combination of self-help and spiritual advice. Mostly, a collection of wise quotations and aphorisms which are meant to give the reader something to think about. This type of book, generically, tends to give a worth piece of advice and then repeat it, expand on it, enlarge it, explain it to the point of tedium. As far as I have experienced, all self-help books do this, which is why I rarely read them. This book, beautifully printed, with great cover design, is still no exception.

This book focuses on and provides direction to the spiritual path followed by Quakers. Plain Living is about choosing the life you really want, a form of inward simplicity that leads us to listen for the "still, small voice" of God.

"Living simply means adopting a lifestyle that avoids the unnecessary accumulation of material items, or what Quakers have often referred to as 'cumber.' It helps us seek outward detachment from the things of the world in order to focus our lives on the leadings of Spirit. Living simply entails clearing our lives and our houses of spiritual and material clutter so as to create more space for faithful living."

A writing built upon ongoing quotations from an extensive series of Quaker authors.