Download the PDF: Voluntary Simplicity.

An article by Duane and Arnold Mitchell, published in the Co-Evolution Quarterly, Summer 1977. This was initially published in 1976 as a report by the major think-tank, SRI International, to give insight into grass-roots changes underway as a growing number of people begin developing more sustainable and satisfying ways of living. It was then published in Co-Evolution Quarterly and included a “’simplicity survey.” The survey also generated a tidal wave of feedback–more than a thousand pages of letters. These first-hand accounts established a broad and trustworthy foundation in lived-experience for the book Voluntary Simplicity, published in 1981

Download the PDF: The Value Of Voluntary Simplicity

By Richard Gregg, originally published in August, 1936 in the Indian Journal Visva-Bharati Quarterly and by the Quakers at Wallingford, PA: Pendle Hill, 1936.  This is the original article on voluntary simplicity that inspired me to write his book by the same name in 1981. Gregg was a Harvard graduate and a student of Gandhi’s teachings. In this article, Gregg explores the spiritual, social, and economic reasons for choosing a life path of greater simplicity.