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Summary: Inspiring Words
Review: 'Less is More' is a collection of quotes and very short essays from a multitude of sources on the value of simplicity. Some of those quoted lived and wrote many centuries ago, while others are from the near present, and of course, there are many in between. Some of the more recognizable people quoted include Ghandi, Thomas Hobbes, Socrates, Thoreau, Shakespeare, St. Francis, Pascal, Adam Smith, Benjamin Franklin, John Kenneth Galbraith, Muhammad, Arthur Miller, and H.G. Wells. Some of the sources used are the Bible, the Bhagavad-Gita, the Dhammapada, and the Tao Te Ching. The quotes are grouped according to the various facets of this subject, although some of them are more obviously related to living simply than others. Most of the quotes range from a few sentences to a paragraph or two. The excerpt from the first chapter is not representative of the overall book. I have owned an earlier edition of this book for many years and continue to find it inspiring. I only wish that there were a hardcover edition available as my paperback copy is becoming rather worn from being read and re-read by myself and the people I have lent it to.
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Summary: less is more
Review: great and wonderful........reverse the title and it still comes out the same.
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Summary: Like no other simplicity book out there...
Review: Having read many books of the simplicity genre you will find that this book is unique. It has challenged me to deeply reflect upon my life and how I can further shed unecessary burdens. Before reading this book I already lived simple. After reading this book it shined the light in areas I was still attached to. This book will have an impact on my life forever. It exposes the emptiness of a life based solely on money, career, possessions, and the daily grind. Awakening the dormant spiritual giant within us that longs for depth and meaning in a society gone mad with superficiality. "Less is More" can help guide one toward the path of freedom, beauty, simplicty and adventure. vagabondsteve@yahoo.com
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Summary: Like no other simplicity book out there...
Review: Having read many books of the simplicity genre you will find that this book is unique. It has challenged me to deeply reflect upon my life and how I can further shed unecessary burdens. Before reading this book I already lived simple. After reading this book it shined the light in areas I was still attached to. This book will have an impact on my life forever. It exposes the emptiness of a life based solely on money, career, possessions, and the daily grind. Awakening the dormant spiritual giant within us that longs for depth and meaning in a society gone mad with superficiality. "Less is More" can help guide one toward the path of freedom, beauty, simplicty and adventure. vagabondsteve@yahoo.com
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Summary: I hate this book.
Review: I am VERY interested in the philosophy and implementation of voluntary simplicity, and I was very much looking forward to receiving and reading this book. Obviously, many people like it. I will be returning mine. This book is filled with the most rambling and incoherent quotes I have encountered, probably 95% of which are from Christian sources whose mentality will NOT apply to voluntary simplicity people of other religions (we do not hold Jesus and Catholic saints as role models.) The "modern" quotes from the book are people in the 70's (book published in 1978) talking about how the planet is 10 years from collapse. I found absolutely nothing in this book either practically helpful OR intellectually inspiring. In addition, something about the paper or ink gives this book a nauseating, choking stink when opened and read (NOT a typical "new book" smell.)
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Summary: A Gem
Review: I bought my copy circa 1978 at age 35 and shared it with my wife. Even though we were already instinctively thinking along these lines this book impressed us greatly. It's title became something of a household quip and we found ourselves frequently dipping into it and finding something applicable to the rat race. It became so dog-eared that we had it custom bound as a family treasure. Its wisdom has seen us into a early, modest, and satisfactory retirement. Lots of products claim that they will change your life. This one does...
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Summary: Sounds great, but how practical?
Review: Socrates lead an interesting, but useless practically life and was eventually executed, moreover, we really don't know anything about him, all we know is actually Plato, Thoreau was destitute all his life and built his cabin on the land belonging to Emerson (what would he do if there wasn't be anyone ready with such a favor?) and by the way, he abandoned his cabin in two years though you'd think he spent his life in there, Plato never got to try his ideas in government (I wonder why, if he's so smart, where's his money, Aristotle, Boethius, and Machiavelli were more successful in that respect, meaning it was not principally impossible, but Stalin and Hitler tried some of Plato's methods, what does that tell us about them), Ghandi... jeez, what's left of Ghandi in the modern India? And would we know as much as his name if he had to deal not with the British, but, say, Germans or Russians? How universal is his philosophy? Or was it just a quirk of time. What's the value of a philosophy if it's impractical, regardless of how feel-good it is? That's a very important question that somehow always disturbs me when I read such well-intentioned, beatific books, at length leaving me right where I was before, but every time a bit more despairing.
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