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{{Short description|Simplified, minimalistic lifestyle}}
{{Redirect|Simple life||Simple Life (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Gandhi spinning 1942.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Mahatma Gandhi]] [[Spinning wheel|spinning yarn]] in 1942. Gandhi believed in a life of simplicity and self-sufficiency.]]
'''Simple living''' refers to practices that promote [[simplicity]] in one's lifestyle. Common practices of simple living include reducing the number of possessions one owns, depending less on technology and services, and spending less money.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/choosingsimplici0000pier |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/choosingsimplici0000pier/page/304 304] |title=Choosing Simplicity|publisher=Gallagher Press |author=Linda Breen Pierce|year=2000|quote=Rather than being consumed by materialism, we choose to surround ourselves with only those material possessions we truly need or genuinely cherish|isbn=978-0967206714}}</ref><ref name=Howard>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AKHxP8xncfcC&pg=PT24 |title=Quotes about Happiness|author=Vernon Howard|quote=You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need|author-link=Vernon Howard}}</ref> In addition to such external changes, simple living also reflects a person's mindset and values.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.becomingminimalist.com/encouragement-for-your-first-step-towards-living-with-less/comment-page-1/ | title=Minimalism: 7 Reasons that Keep People from Getting Started | date=29 June 2011 }}</ref> Simple living practices can be seen in history, religion, art, and economics.

Adherents may choose simple living for a variety of personal reasons, such as [[spirituality]], [[health]], increase in [[quality time]] for family and friends, [[work–life balance]], personal taste, financial sustainability, increase in [[philanthropy]], [[frugality]], [[environmentalism|environmental sustainability]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Taylor|first=Matthew|date=2019-05-22|title=Much shorter working weeks needed to tackle climate crisis – study|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/22/working-fewer-hours-could-help-tackle-climate-crisis-study |access-date=2021-11-02|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> or reducing [[Stress (biology)|stress]]. Simple living can also be a reaction to [[economic materialism]] and [[consumer culture]]. Some cite [[sociopolitical]] goals aligned with environmentalist, [[Anti-consumerism|anti-consumerist]], or [[anti-war movement]]s, including [[Conservation (ethic)|conservation]], [[degrowth]], [[deep ecology]], and [[tax resistance]].<ref name="NWTRCC">{{cite web|url=https://nwtrcc.org/war-tax-resistance-resources/pamphlets/practical-war-tax-resistance-5/|title=Low Income/Simple Living as War Tax Resistance|date=January 2020 |publisher=NWTRCC}}</ref>

==History==

===Religious and spiritual===

A number of religious and spiritual traditions encourage simple living.<ref>{{multiref2
|1={{cite journal|first=Helena|last=Echlin|date=December 2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vekDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA92|title=Be Happier With Less|journal=Yoga Journal|page=92}}
|2={{cite journal|first=W. Bradford|last=Swift|date=July–August 1996|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fekDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA81|journal=Yoga Journal|title=Living Simply in a Complex World|page=81}}
}}</ref> Early examples include the [[Śramaṇa]] traditions of [[Iron Age in India|Iron Age India]] and biblical [[Nazirite]]s. More formal traditions of simple living stretch back to antiquity, originating with religious and philosophical leaders such as [[Jesus]], [[Laozi|Lao Tzu]], [[Confucius]], [[Zoroaster|Zarathustra]], [[The Buddha|Gautama Buddha]], and  Prophet [[Muhammad]].{{cn|reason=Muhammad doesn't seem to have lived a particularly simple life, for example|date=September 2023}} These traditions were heavily influenced by both national cultures and religious ethics.<ref name="shi">{{cite book|last=Shi|first=David|title=The Simple Life|publisher=University of Georgia Press|year=2001}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2023}} Simplicity was one of the primary concepts espoused by Lao Tzu, the founder of [[Taoism]]. This is most embodied in the principles of [[Pu (Taoism)|Pu]] and [[Ziran]].<ref>{{cite wikisource |title=Tao Te Ching |last= |first=}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=September 2023}} Confucius has been quoted numerous times as promoting simple living.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gain Insight and Awareness With These 47 Confucius Quotes |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/best-confucius-quotes-2833291 |website=ThoughtCo |access-date=7 November 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite wikisource |title=Analects |last= |first=}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Gautama Buddha espoused simple living as a central virtue of [[Buddhism]]. The [[Four Noble Truths]] advocate detachment from desire as the path to ending suffering and attaining [[Nirvana (Buddhism)|Nirvana]].<ref>{{cite wikisource |title=Dhammapada |last= |first=}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=September 2023}}<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mark |first1=Joshua J. |title=Four Noble Truths |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Four_Noble_Truths/ |website=World History Encyclopedia |access-date=7 November 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

[[Jesus]] is said to have lived a simple life. He is said to have encouraged his [[Disciple (Christianity)|disciples]] "to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts—but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics".<ref>{{bibleverse|Mark|6:8–9|ESV}}: [[English Standard Version]]</ref> He also told his disciples that they cannot serve God and money at the same time, and explained that God is capable of providing them with the essentials for life (food and clothing), so long as they "seek his kingdom first".<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|6:24–33|ESV}}</ref> [[The Apostle Paul]] taught that people should be content with food and clothing, and that the desire to be rich is the cause of many kinds of evils.<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Timothy|6:6–10|ESV}}</ref>

Many other notable religious individuals, such as [[Benedict of Nursia]], [[Francis of Assisi]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Slocock|first=N.|date=May 2004|url=http://www.tssf.org.uk/attachments/article/219/Living_a_Life_of_Simplicity.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727121313/http://www.tssf.org.uk/attachments/article/219/Living_a_Life_of_Simplicity.pdf|archive-date=2011-07-27|title='Living a Life of Simplicity?' A Response to Francis of Assisi by Adrian House}}</ref> [[Leo Tolstoy]], [[Rabindranath Tagore]], [[Albert Schweitzer]], and [[Mahatma Gandhi]], have claimed that spiritual inspiration led them to a simple living lifestyle.<ref name="shi"/>{{page needed|date=September 2023}}

[[File:Preziosi - Derviş cerşetor.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Ottoman Turks|Ottoman]] [[Dervish]] portrayed by [[Amedeo Preziosi]], 1860s circa, [[Muzeul Naţional de Artă al României]]]]
[[Sufism]] in the [[Muslim world]] emerged and grew as a mystical, somewhat hidden tradition in the mainstream [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] and [[Shia Islam|Shia]] [[Islamic schools and branches|denominations]] of [[Islam]].<ref name="Cook 2015">{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Cook |author-first=David |author-link=David Cook (historian) |date=May 2015 |title=Mysticism in Sufi Islam |url=https://oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-51 |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion |location=[[Oxford]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.51 |isbn=9780199340378 |doi-access= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128012740/http://oxfordre.com/religion/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-51 |archive-date=28 November 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=4 January 2022}}</ref> Sufism grew particularly in the frontier areas of [[Muslim world|Islamic states]],<ref name="Cook 2015"/><ref name="Findley 2005">{{cite book |last=Findley |first=Carter Vaughn |author-link=Carter V. Findley |year=2005 |chapter=Islam and Empire from the Seljuks through the Mongols |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ToAjDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA56|chapter-url-access=subscription |title=The Turks in World History |location=[[Oxford]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=56–66 |isbn=9780195177268 |oclc=54529318}}</ref> where the asceticism of its [[fakir]]s and [[dervish]]es appealed to populations already used to the monastic traditions of [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]], and [[Christianity]].<ref name=hanson104>{{cite book |last=Hanson |first=Eric O. |title=Religion and Politics in the International System Today |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wz4nCOMd8ucC&pg=PA102 |year=2006 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=[[New York City|New York]] |pages=102–104 |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511616457 |isbn=978-0-521-85245-6}}</ref><ref>{{multiref2
|1={{cite book|author=Shahzad Bashir|title=Sufi Bodies: Religion and Society in Medieval Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ArurAgAAQBAJ|url-access=subscription |year=2013|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-14491-9 |pages=9–11, 58–67 }}
|2={{cite book|author=Antony Black|title=The History of Islamic Political Thought: From the Prophet to the Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hd1vAAAAQBAJ |url-access=subscription|year=2011|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=978-0-7486-8878-4 |pages=241–242}} }}</ref> Sufis were influential and successful in [[Spread of Islam|spreading Islam]] between the 10th and 19th centuries.<ref name="Cook 2015"/> Some scholars have argued that Sufi Muslim ascetics and mystics played a decisive role in converting the [[Turkic peoples]] to Islam, mainly because of the similarities between the extreme, ascetic Sufis ([[fakir]]s and [[dervish]]es) and the [[Shamanism|Shamans]] of the [[Tengrism|traditional Turco-Mongol religion]].<ref name="Findley 2005"/><ref>{{cite journal |last=Amitai-Preiss |first=Reuven |date=January 1999 |title=Sufis and Shamans: Some Remarks on the Islamization of the Mongols in the Ilkhanate |journal=Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=27–46 |doi=10.1163/1568520991445605 |issn=1568-5209 |jstor=3632297}}</ref>

[[Plain people]] typically belonged to Christian groups that practised lifestyles that excluded forms of [[wealth]] or [[technology]] for religious or philosophical reasons. Such Christian groups include the [[Shakers]], [[Old Order Mennonite|Mennonites]], [[Amish]], [[Hutterites]], [[Amana Colonies]], [[Bruderhof Communities|Bruderhof]],<ref>{{multiref2
|1={{Cite news|first=Pete|last=Ascosi|date=2016-08-25|url=https://christlife.org/blog/learning-from-the-bruderhof-an-intentional-christian-community|title=Learning from the Bruderhof: An Intentional Christian Community|work=ChristLife|access-date=2017-05-23|language=en}}
|2={{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/inside-the-bruderhof|title=Inside The Bruderhofe|website=BBC Media Centre|date=2019-07-09|access-date=2019-07-19}} }}</ref> [[Old German Baptist Brethren]], [[Harmony Society]], and some [[Quakers]]. A Quaker belief called ''[[Testimony of simplicity]]'' states that a person ought to live her or his life simply. Some tropes about complete exclusion of technology in these groups may not be accurate though. The Amish and other groups do use some modern technology, after assessing its impact on the community.<ref>{{multiref2
|1={{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/@dallincrump/what-the-amish-are-teaching-me-about-how-to-use-technology-aa8bd1816260|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801091934/https://medium.com/@dallincrump/what-the-amish-are-teaching-me-about-how-to-use-technology-aa8bd1816260|archive-date=2019-08-01|title=What the Amish are Teaching Me about How to Use Technology|last=Crump|first=Dallin|date=2018-08-22|website=Medium|language=en|access-date=2019-08-01}}
|2={{Cite web|last=Novak|first=Kim|url=https://metro.co.uk/2019/07/20/unknown-christian-community-in-sussex-lives-without-electricity-possessions-or-debt-10431308/|title=Unknown Christian community in Sussex lives without electricity or possessions|date=2019-07-20|website=Metro|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-01}}
}}</ref>

The 18th-century [[French Enlightenment]] philosopher [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] strongly praised the simple way of life in many of his writings, especially in two books: ''Discourse on the Arts and Sciences'' (1750) and ''Discourse on Inequality'' (1754).<ref>{{cite book|author-link=Peter Marshall (author)|last=Marshall|first=Peter|title=[[Nature's Web: Rethinking Our Place on Earth]]|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|year=1996|pages=235, 239–244}}</ref>

===Secular and political===
[[Epicureanism]], based on the teachings of the [[Athens]]-based [[philosopher]] [[Epicurus]], flourished from about {{BCE|the fourth century}} to {{CE|the third century}}. Epicureanism held that the paradigm of happiness was the untroubled life, which was made possible by carefully considered choices. Epicurus pointed out that troubles entailed by maintaining an extravagant lifestyle tend to outweigh the pleasures of partaking in it. He therefore concluded that what is necessary for happiness, bodily comfort, and life itself should be maintained at minimal cost, while all things beyond what is necessary for these should either be tempered by moderation or completely avoided.<ref>{{cite web|last=Smith|first=M.F.|year=2001|url=http://www.epicurus.info/etexts/introlucretius.html#III|url-status=dead|title=Introduction to Lucretius: On the Nature of Things|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060301142624/http://www.epicurus.info/etexts/introlucretius.html|website=Epicurus.info|archive-date=2006-03-01}}</ref>

[[File:Thoreau's cabin inside.jpg|thumb|left|Reconstruction of [[Henry David Thoreau]]'s cabin on the shores of [[Walden Pond]]]]
[[Henry David Thoreau]], an American [[natural history|naturalist]] and author, made the classic [[Secularity|secular]] advocacy of a life of simple and [[sustainable living]] in his book ''[[Walden]]'' (1854). Thoreau conducted a two-year experiment living a plain and simple life on the shores of [[Walden Pond]]. He concluded: "Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify, simplify! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail."<ref>{{cite book|last=Thoreau|first=Henry David|title=Walden|chapter=Where I Lived, and What I Lived For|chapter-url=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/henry-david-thoreau/walden/text/where-i-lived-and-what-i-lived-for|year=1854}}</ref>

In Victorian Britain, [[Henry Stephens Salt]], an admirer of Thoreau, popularised the idea of "Simplification, the saner method of living".<ref name=Gould>{{cite book|first=Peter C.|last=Gould|title=Early Green Politics}}</ref>{{rp|22}} Other British advocates of the simple life included [[Edward Carpenter]], [[William Morris]], and the members of the "[[Fellowship of the New Life]]".{{r|Gould|pages=27–28}} Carpenter popularised the phrase the "Simple Life" in his essay ''Simplification of Life'' in his ''England's Ideal'' (1887).<ref>{{cite book|last=Delany|first=Paul|year=1987|title=The Neo-pagans: Rupert Brooke and the ordeal of youth|url=https://archive.org/details/neopagansrupertb00dela|url-access=registration|publisher=[[Free Press (publisher)|Free Press]]|isbn=978-0029082805|page=10}}</ref>

[[Charles Robert Ashbee|C.R. Ashbee]] and his followers also practised some of these ideas, thus linking simplicity with the [[Arts and Crafts movement]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Fiona|last=Maccarthy|title=The Simple Life: C.R. Ashbee in the Cotswolds|location=London|year=1981}}</ref> British novelist [[John Cowper Powys]] advocated the simple life in his 1933 book ''A Philosophy of Solitude''.<ref>{{multiref2
|1={{cite book|last=Powys|first=John Cowper|title=A Philosophy of Solitude|location=London|year=1933}}
|2=See also {{cite book|author-link=David Goodway|first=David|last=Goodway|title=[[Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow]]|location=Liverpool|year=2006|pages=48–49, 174|postscript=, for Goodway's comparison of Powys' ideas of the Simple Life to Carpenter's.}} }}</ref> [[John Middleton Murry]] and [[Max Plowman]] practised a simple lifestyle at their Adelphi Centre in Essex in the 1930s.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hardy|first=Dennis|title=Utopian England: Community Experiments 1900–1945|page=42}} Hardy's book details other simple living movements in the U.K. in this period.</ref>
Irish poet [[Patrick Kavanagh]] championed a "right simplicity" philosophy based on [[Agrarianism|ruralism]] in some of his work.<ref>{{cite news|first=Alan|last=O'Riordan|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/kavanagh-s-lessons-for-simple-living-1.776937|title=Kavanagh's Lessons for Simple Living|publisher=Irish Times|date=November 23, 2009}}</ref>

[[George Lorenzo Noyes]], a [[Natural history|naturalist]], [[Mineralogy|mineralogist]], [[Postdevelopment theory|development critic]], writer, and artist, is known as the Thoreau of Maine. He lived a wilderness lifestyle, advocating through his creative work a simple life and reverence for nature. During the 1920s and 1930s, the [[Southern Agrarians|Vanderbilt Agrarians]] of the [[Southern United States]] advocated a lifestyle and culture centered upon traditional and sustainable [[agrarianism|agrarian values]] as opposed to the progressive urban [[Industrial Revolution|industrialism]] which dominated [[Western culture|the Western world]] at that time.

[[File:Veblen - Theory of the leisure class, 1924 - 5854536.tif|thumb|right|upright|''[[The Theory of the Leisure Class]]'', 1924]]
The Norwegian-American economist and sociologist [[Thorstein Veblen]] warned against the [[conspicuous consumption]] of the [[Economic materialism|materialistic]] society in his ''[[The Theory of the Leisure Class]]'' (1899); [[Richard Gregg (social philosopher)|Richard Gregg]] coined the term "voluntary simplicity" in ''The Value of Voluntary Simplicity'' (1936). From the 1920s, a number of modern authors articulated both the theory and practice of living simply, among them [[Gandhism|Gandhian]] Richard Gregg, economists [[Ralph Borsodi]] and [[Scott Nearing]], anthropologist-poet [[Gary Snyder]], and [[utopia]]n fiction writer [[Ernest Callenbach]]. Economist [[E. F. Schumacher]] argued against the notion that "bigger is better" in ''[[Small Is Beautiful]]'' (1973); and [[Duane Elgin]] continued the promotion of the simple life in ''Voluntary Simplicity'' (1981).

The Australian academic [[Ted Trainer]] practices and writes about simplicity, and established The Simplicity Institute<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://simplicityinstitute.org/ted-trainer|title=Ted Trainer|website=Simplicity Institute}}</ref> at Pigface Point, some {{convert|20|km|mi|abbr=on}} from the [[University of New South Wales]] to which it is attached.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unsw.edu.au/arts-design-architecture|title=Arts, Design & Architecture - UNSW Sydney|website=UNSW Sites}}</ref> A secular set of nine values was developed with the [https://ethify.org/en/content/values ''Ethify Yourself''] project in [[Austria]], having a simplified life style in mind. In the [[United States]] voluntary simplicity started to garner more public exposure through a movement in the late 1990s around a popular "simplicity" book, ''The Simple Living Guide'' by Janet Luhrs.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Janet|last=Luhrs|title=The Simple Living Guide|publisher=Harmony|year=1997|isbn=978-0553067965}}</ref>

==Practices==

===Reducing consumption, work time, and possessions===
[[File:Portland alternative dwellings workshop.jpg|thumb|left|265x265px|Living simply in a [[tiny house movement|small dwelling]]]]

Some people practice simple living by reducing their [[Consumption (economics)|consumption]]. Lowering consumption can reduce individual debt, which allows for greater flexibility and simplicity in one's life. If one spends less on [[goods]] or services, one can spend less time earning [[money]]. The time saved may be used to pursue other interests, to help others through [[volunteering]], or to improve their [[quality of life]], for example, by pursuing creative activities. Developing a [[detachment (philosophy)|detachment]] from the pursuit of money has led some individuals, such as [[Suelo]] and [[Mark Boyle (Moneyless Man)|Mark Boyle]], to live with no money.<ref>{{multiref2
|1={{cite news|last=Osborne |first=Hilary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/blog/2009/jul/23/daniel-suelo-caveman |title=Daniel Suelo: Free spirit or freeloader? |work=The Guardian |location=UK |access-date=20 October 2011 |date=23 July 2009}}
|2={{cite news|last=Salter |first=Jessica |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/greenerliving/7951968/The-man-who-lives-without-money.html |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100820084055/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/greenerliving/7951968/The-man-who-lives-without-money.html |archive-date=20 August 2010 |title=The man who lives without money |work=The Telegraph |location=U.K. |date=18 August 2010}} }}</ref> People who reduce their expenses can also increase their savings, leading to [[financial independence]] and the possibility of [[Retirement#Early retirement|early retirement]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Robinson |first=Nancy |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/financialfinesse/2012/08/02/retiring-at-age-50-is-realistic-using-unorthodox-strategies/ |title=Retiring At Age 50 Is Realistic Using These Unorthodox Strategies |work=Forbes |location=U.S. |access-date=20 August 2012| date=2 August 2012}}</ref>

The "100 Thing Challenge" is a grassroots movement to whittle personal possessions to one hundred items, aiming of de-cluttering and simplify life.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1812048,00.html|title=How to Live with Just 100 Things|author=Lisa McClaughlin|date=June 5, 2008|publisher=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref> People in the [[tiny house movement]] chose to live in small, mortgage-free, low-impact dwellings, such as [[log cabin]]s or [[beach hut]]s.<ref>{{cite news|first=Leigh|last=Paterson|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/magazine-16348594/less-is-more-simple-living-in-small-spaces|title=Less is more: Simple living in small spaces|work=BBC News | date=28 December 2011}}</ref>

[[Joshua Becker]] suggests that people who desire to simplify their lives begin by simplifying their homes.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Minimalist Home|last=Becker|first=Joshua|publisher=WaterBrook|year=2018|pages=3–5}}</ref>

===Increasing self-sufficiency===
[[Image:Forestgarden2.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Robert Hart (horticulturist)|Robert Hart]]'s [[Forest gardening|forest garden]] in Shropshire, England, UK]]
One way to simplify life is to get [[Back-to-the-land movement|back-to-the-land]] and grow your own food. Increased [[Self-sustainability|self-sufficiency]] reduces dependency on money and the broader [[economy]].<ref>{{cite conference |first1=Khairul Hisyam|last1= Baharuddin |first2=Nazatul Syima |last2=Mohd Nasir |first3=Fairuz A'dilah|last3= Rusdi |date=2022 |title=Self-Reliance, Simple Living, and Happiness in the Man Who Quit Money |book-title=Proceeding of International Conference on Ummah |url=http://myscholar.umk.edu.my/bitstream/123456789/3952/1/eProceeding%20ICU%202022%20khisyam%20and%20others.pdf |via=My Scholar, Digital Library Repository, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan}}</ref> [[Tom Hodgkinson]] believes the key to a free and simple life is to stop consuming and start producing.<ref>{{cite book|title=How To Be Free|author=Tom Hodgkinson|year=2006|publisher=Hamish Hamilton |isbn=978-0241143216}}</ref> Writer and eco-blogger Jennifer Nini left the city to live off-grid, grow food, and "be a part of the solution; not part of the problem."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Nini|first1=Jennifer|title=So You Think You Can Farm?|date=September 2014|url=https://ecowarriorprincess.net/2014/09/so-you-think-you-can-farm/|access-date=1 September 2014}}</ref>

[[Forest gardening]], developed by simple living adherent [[Robert Hart (horticulturist)|Robert Hart]], is a low-maintenance, plant-based food production system based on woodland ecosystems. It incorporates fruit and nut trees, shrubs, herbs, vines, and perennial vegetables.<ref name=Hart>{{cite book|title=Forest gardening: Cultivating an edible landscape|first=Robert|last=Hart|isbn=978-1603580502|date=1996-09-01}}</ref>{{rp|97}} Hart created a model forest garden from a {{convert|0.12|acre|m2}} orchard on his farm at [[Wenlock Edge]] in [[Shropshire]].{{r|Hart|page=45}}

"[[Food miles]]" is a description of the number of miles a given item of food or its ingredients has travelled between the farm and the table. Simple living advocates use this metric to argue for locally grown food, for example in books like ''[[The 100-Mile Diet]]'' and [[Barbara Kingsolver]]'s ''[[Animal, Vegetable, Miracle|Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life]]''. In each of those cases, the authors devoted a year to reducing their carbon footprint by eating locally.<ref>{{cite news|last=Taylor|first=Kate|date=2007-08-08|url=https://www.nysun.com/arts/year-i-saved-the-world/60056/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114072028/https://www.nysun.com/arts/year-i-saved-the-world/60056/|archive-date=2009-01-14|title=The Year I Saved The World|location=New York|newspaper=The Sun}}</ref>

City dwellers can produce home-grown fruit and vegetables in [[Container garden|pot gardens]] or miniature indoor greenhouses. Tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, peas, strawberries, and several types of herbs can all thrive in pots. [[Jim Merkel]] says "A person could sprout seeds. They are tasty, incredibly nutritious, and easy to grow... We grow them in wide-mouthed mason jars with a square of nylon window screen screwed under a metal ring".<ref>{{cite book|last=Merkel|first=Jim|title=Radical Simplicity. British Columbia: New Society|year=2003|pages=170–171}}{{ISBN?}}</ref>

===Reconsidering technology===
People who practice simple living have diverse views on the role of technology. The American political activist [[Scott Nearing]] was skeptical about how humanity would use new technology, citing destructive inventions such as [[nuclear weapon]]s.<ref>{{cite book|author=Scott Nearing|title=Civilization and Beyond |page=101 |year=2006 |publisher=Echo Library |isbn=978-1406834970 }}</ref> Those who eschew modern technology are often referred to as [[Luddite]]s or [[neo-Luddism|neo-Luddites]].<ref name = Luddites>{{cite web|last=Sale|first=Kirkpatrick|date=February 1997|url=https://mondediplo.com/1997/02/20luddites|url-access=subscription|title=America's New Luddites|website=Le Monde diplomatique}}</ref> Although simple living is often a [[Secularity|secular]] pursuit, it may still involve reconsidering [[appropriate technology]] as [[Anabaptism|Anabaptist]] groups such as the [[Amish]] or [[Mennonites]] have done.

Technology can make a simple lifestyle within mainstream culture easier and more sustainable. The [[internet]] can reduce an individual's [[carbon footprint]] through [[remote work]] and lower paper usage. Some have calculated their energy consumption to show that one can live simply and in a satisfying way by using much less energy than is typically used in Western countries.<ref>{{cite web|first=Anil K.|last=Rajvanshi|title=How to Live Simply and in a Sustainable Way|date=2012-05-27|url=http://www.speakingtree.in/spiritual-blogs/masters/self-improvement/how-to-live-simply-and-in-a-sustainable-way|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219004528/http://www.speakingtree.in/spiritual-blogs/masters/self-improvement/how-to-live-simply-and-in-a-sustainable-way|archive-date=2013-12-19}}</ref> Technologies they may embrace include computers, [[photovoltaic system]]s, [[wind turbine]]s, and [[water turbine]]s.

Technological interventions that appear to simplify living may actually induce side effects elsewhere or in the future. [[Evgeny Morozov]] warns that tools like the internet can facilitate [[mass surveillance]] and [[political repression]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Evgeny |last=Morozov|title=The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom |year=2011 }}</ref> The book ''[[Green Illusions]]'' identifies how wind and solar energy technologies have hidden side effects and can actually increase energy consumption and entrench environmental harms over time.<ref>{{cite book|last=Zehner|first=Ozzie|title=Green Illusions: The Dirty Secrets of Clean Energy and the Future of Environmentalism|year=2012|publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]]|isbn=978-0803237759}}</ref> The authors of the book ''Techno-Fix'' criticize technological optimists for overlooking the limitations of technology in solving agricultural problems.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Huesemann|first1=Michael H.|first2=Joyce A.|last2=Huesemann|year=2011|title=Technofix: Why Technology Won't Save Us or the Environment|publisher=New Society Publishers|location=Gabriola Island, British Columbia, Canada|isbn=978-0865717046}}</ref>

===Simplifying diet===
[[File:Figs, berries and cheese.jpg|thumb|Figs, berries, and cheese]]
In contrast to diets like vegetarianism, a simplified diet focuses on principles rather than a set of rules. People may use less sophisticated and cheaper ingredients, and eat dishes considered as "comfort food", including home-cooked dishes. Simple diets are usually considered to be "healthy", since they include a significant amount of fruit and vegetables.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Katie |date=February 25, 2009 |title=Slow economy calls for simple living |work=Free Lance-Star |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/126937DCC5E81D90&f=basic}}</ref> A simple diet usually avoids highly processed foods and fast-food eating.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 18, 2020 |title=Women urged for changing culture of extra protein rich, spicy food |work=Daily Messenger |location=Pakistan |url=}}</ref>{{Verify source|date=September 2023}} Simplicity may also entail taking time to be present while eating, such as by following rituals, avoiding multitasking when eating, and putting time aside to consume food mindfully and gratefully, potentially in the company of others.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McDonald |first=Glenn |title=For us, simple living isn't easy—Author advocates the joy of less stuff |work=News & Observer |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/1315CB0B2B616478|url-access=subscription}}{{when|date=September 2023}}</ref>{{Verify source|date=September 2023}} Moreover, it is common to cook one's own food, by following simple recipes that are not particularly time consuming, in an attempt to reduce the amount of energy necessary for cooking.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Weidner |first=Johanna |date=January 8, 2005 |title=Food helps define life, editor says |work=Record, The |location=Kitchner, Ontario, Canada |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/10AA68B2F82643EB.|url-access=subscription}}</ref>{{Verify source|date=September 2023}}

A simple diet looks different from person to person and can be adapted to suit individual needs and desires. For instance, in the United Kingdom, the Movement for Compassionate Living was formed by Kathleen and Jack Jannaway in 1984 to spread the message of [[veganism]] and promote simple living and self-reliance as a remedy against the [[Exploitation of natural resources|exploitation of humans, animals, and the planet]].

==Politics and activism==
{{Globalize|section|the [[United States]]|date=February 2019}}

===Environmentalism===
[[Environmentalism]] is inspired by simple living, as harmony with [[nature]] is intrinsically dependent on a simple lifestyle.{{According to whom|date=March 2022}} For example, [[Green party|Green parties]] often advocate simple living as a consequence of their "four pillars" or the "Ten Key Values" of the [[Green Party of the United States]]. This includes, in policy terms, their rejection of [[genetic engineering]] and [[nuclear power]] and other technologies they consider to be hazardous. The [[Green politics|Greens]]' support for simplicity is based on the reduction in natural resource usage and environmental impact.<ref name=":0" /> This concept is expressed in [[Ernest Callenbach]]'s "green triangle" of [[ecology]], [[frugality]], and health.

Some avoid involvement even with [[green politics]] as compromising simplicity, however, and instead advocate forms of [[green anarchism]] that attempt to implement these principles at a smaller scale, e.g. the [[ecovillage]]. [[Deep ecology]], a belief that the world does not exist as a resource to be freely exploited by humans, proposes [[Habitat conservation|wilderness preservation]], [[human population control]], and simple living.<ref>{{cite book|title=International Encyclopedia of Environmental Politics|editor-first1=John|editor-last1=Barry|editor-first2=E. Gene|editor-last2=Frankland|publisher=Routledge|year=2002|page=161|isbn=978-0415202855}}</ref>

[[File:PeacePark.jpg|thumb|right|The [[White House Peace Vigil]], started by simple living adherent [[Ellen Thomas]] in 1981]]

===Arts===
The term "[[bohemianism]]" describes a tradition of both voluntary and involuntary poverty by [[artist]]s who devote their time to artistic endeavors rather than paid labor. The term was coined by the French bourgeoisie as a way to describe social non-conformists.<ref name=":03">{{Cite web |first=Elena|last=Martinique|date=2023-04-24|title=Famous Artists of the 20th Century Who Knew How to Live |url=https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/famous-artists-bohemians |access-date=2022-04-03 |website=Widewalls |language=en}}</ref> Bohemians sometimes also expressed their unorthodoxy through simplistic art, for instance in the case of Amedeo Modigliani.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Amedeo Modigliani |url=https://www.theartstory.org/artist/modigliani-amedeo/ |access-date=2022-04-03 |website=The Art Story}}</ref> Minimalistic art inspired "rebel" artistic movements into the 20th century.<ref name=":03" />

Positive attitudes towards living in poverty for the sake of art are becoming less common among [[List of American artists 1900 and after|young American artists]]. One recent graduate of the [[Rhode Island School of Design]] said "her classmates showed little interest in living in [[garret]]s and eating [[Ramen|ramen noodles]]."<ref>{{Cite episode |publisher=NPR |credits=[[Neda Ulaby]] (Director) |title=In Pricey Cities, Being A Bohemian Starving Artist Gets Old Fast |work=All Things Considered |access-date=2014-05-31 |date=2014-05-15 |url=https://www.npr.org/2014/05/15/312779821/in-pricey-cities-being-a-bohemian-starving-artist-gets-old-fast |series=War On Poverty, 50 Years Later}}</ref>

==Economics==
A new economics movement has been building since the [[United Nations Conference on the Human Environment]] in 1972,<ref>{{cite web|website=United Nations Environment Program|url=http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=97|url-status=dead|title=Report of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20070411124414/http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=97 |archive-date=2007-04-11 |location=Stockholm|year=1972|access-date=March 24, 2008}}</ref> and the publications that year of ''Only One Earth'', ''[[The Limits to Growth]]'', and ''[[A Blueprint for Survival|Blueprint for Survival]]'', followed by ''[[Small Is Beautiful]]: Economics As If People Mattered'' in 1973.<ref name=Robertson>{{cite book|last=Robertson|first=James|year=1999|url=http://www.jamesrobertson.com/book/neweconomicsofsustainabledevelopment.pdf|title=The New Economics of Sustainable Development: A Briefing for Policy Makers|publisher=Kogan Page |isbn=0749430931}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2023}}

David Wann introduced the idea of "simple prosperity" as it applies to a [[Sustainability|sustainable]] lifestyle. From his point of view, "it is important to ask ourselves three fundamental questions: what is the point of all our commuting and consuming? What is the economy for? And, finally, why do we seem to be unhappier now than when we began our initial pursuit for rich abundance?"<ref>{{cite book|last=Wann|first=David|title=Simple Prosperity: Finding Real Wealth in a Sustainable Lifestyle|location=New York|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|year=2007|isbn=978-0312361419}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2023}}

[[James Robertson (activist)|James Robertson]]'s ''A New Economics of Sustainable Development''<ref name=Robertson /> inspired work of thinkers and activists who participate in his ''Working for a Sane Alternative'' network and program. According to Robertson, the shift to sustainability is likely to require a widespread shift of emphasis from raising incomes to reducing costs.

The principles of the new economics, as set out by Robertson, are the following:<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ellis |first1=Howard S. |title=The State of the "New Economics" |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1812743 |journal=The American Economic Review |access-date=7 November 2023 |pages=465–477 |date=1949|volume=39 |issue=2 |jstor=1812743 }}</ref>
* systematic [[empowerment]] of people (as opposed to making and keeping them dependent), as the basis for people-centred development
* systematic conservation of resources and [[Biophysical environment|the environment]], as the basis for environmentally [[sustainable development]]
* evolution from a "wealth of nations" model of economic life to a one-world model, and from today's inter-national economy to an ecologically sustainable, decentralising, multi-level one-world economic system
* restoration of [[Politics|political]] and [[Ethics|ethical]] factors to a central place in economic life and thought
* respect for [[Qualitative property|qualitative]] values, not just quantitative values

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Additional reading ==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book|author-link=Wendell Berry|last=Berry|first=Wendell|year=1990|title=What Are People For?|publisher=North Point Press|isbn=0865474370}}
* {{cite book|first=Dave|last=Bruno|year=2010|title=The 100 Thing Challenge|publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0061787744}}
* {{cite book|first=Amy|last=Dacyczyn|year=1998|title=The Complete Tightwad Gazette: Promoting Thrift as a Viable Alternative Lifestyle|publisher=Random House Publishing |isbn=0375752250}}
* {{cite book|first1=John|last1=de Graaf|first2=David|last2=Wann|author-link3=Thomas Naylor|first3=Thomas|last3=Naylor|year=2002|title=[[Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic]]|publisher=Berrett-Koehler Publishers |isbn=1576751996}}
* {{cite book|last=Delany|first=Paul|title=The Neo-pagans: Rupert Brooke and the ordeal of youth|url=https://archive.org/details/neopagansrupertb00dela|url-access=registration|date= 1987|publisher=[[Free Press (publisher)|Free Press]]|isbn=978-0029082805}}
* {{cite book|author-link=Duane Elgin|last=Elgin|first=Duane|orig-year=1981|year=2010|title=Voluntary Simplicity|publisher=Harper|isbn=978-0061779268}}
* {{cite book|author-link=Vernard Eller|first=Vernard|last=Eller|year=1973| url=http://www.hccentral.com/eller3/index.html|title=The Simple Life|publisher=W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company |isbn=0802815375}}
* {{cite book|author-link=Jacob Lund Fisker|last=Fisker|first=Jacob Lund|year=2010|title=Early Retirement Extreme: A philosophical and practical guide to financial independence|publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform |isbn=978-1453601211}}
* {{cite book|first=Dolly|last=Freed|orig-year=1978|title=Possum Living: How to Live Well Without a Job and with (Almost) No Money|year=2010|publisher=Tin House Books |isbn=978-0982053935}}
* {{cite book|author-link=Marie Kondo|first=Marie|last=Kondo|year=2014|title=The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up|publisher=Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed |isbn=978-1607747307}}
* {{cite book|first=Charles|last=Long|orig-year=1986|title=How to Survive Without a Salary: Living the Conserver Lifestyle|year=1996|publisher=Warwick |isbn=1894622375}}
* {{cite book|first=Janet|last=Luhrs|year=1997|title=The Simple Living Guide: A Sourcebook for Less Stressful, More Joyful Living|publisher=Harmony/Rodale |isbn=0553067966}}
* {{cite book|first=Stephanie|last=Mills|year=2002|title=Epicurean Simplicity|publisher=Island Press|isbn=978-1559636896}}
* {{cite book|author-link1=Helen Nearing|first1=Helen|last1=Nearing|author-link2=Scott Nearing|first2=Scott|last2=Nearing|year=1970|title=The Good Life: Helen and Scott Nearing's Sixty Years of Self-Sufficient Living|publisher=Schocken}}
* {{cite book|author-link1=Vicki Robin|first1=Vicki|last1=Robin|first2=Joe|last2=Dominguez|year=1992|title=Your Money or Your Life|publisher=Viking}}<br />{{cite book|author-link1=Vicki Robin|first1=Vicki|last1=Robin|first2=Monique|last2=Tilford|first3=Mark|last3=Zaifman|title=Your Money or Your Life: Revised and Updated for the 21st Century|publisher=[[Penguin Books]]|year=2008}}
* {{cite book|first=Edward|last=Romney|orig-year=1992|title=Living Well on Practically Nothing|year=2001|publisher=Paladin Press |isbn=1581602820}}
* {{cite book|first=Deborah|last=Taylor-Hough|year=2000|title=A Simple Choice: A practical guide for saving your time, money and sanity|publisher=SourceBooks|isbn=1891400495}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline|Simple living}}

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