Wise Words for the Good Life: A Homesteader's Personal Collection

Retail price: $15
Our price: $10.50 (30% off)
Edition: Paperback
Pages: 6"x9", 192 pages
ISBN: 1-890132-41-1

By Helen Nearing

As one of the leading twentieth-century practitioners of self-sufficient living, Helen Nearing found illumination and solace in the sayings of predecessors who had sought their own versions of "the good life." By grouping the wisdom of the ages into categories that are quirky yet eminently sensible, she brings to life the contemporary relevance of some of the most profound chroniclers of our rural heritage:

Horace on simplicity
Virgil on farming
Spenser on solitude
Thoreau on poverty
Jefferson on the evening of life

As well as being a gleaner of quotations, Helen was the creator of her own "wise words." Her book Loving and Leaving the Good Life was described by May Sarton as "a tonic for any young person dismayed by the state of the world, and a drink at the fountain of youth for any old person depressed or discouraged." Helen's book Simple Food for the Good Life was described by Health Science as "far more than a mere cookbook. It belongs to the category of classics, destined to be remembered through the ages."

About the Author:

Along with her husband Scott, Helen Nearing lived in a manner that inspired people throughout the world to seek a dignified, satisfying life. The Nearing homestead in Harborside, Maine, is now preserved as The Good Life Center, an educational center open to the public in the summer.