Some Fruits of Solitude by William Penn

I LOVE Attic Books!

Just had to say that...sorry. (Really, I'm not at all sorry...Attic Books is a gem!)

You see, I am an antique book freak. I'm the girl who goes into the antique store and heads straight to the books. Children's books, classic books, books of various themes that interest me...even hymnals!

Yes, that's me. There...it's out...I've said it.

So, when I am blessed with the honor of reading and reviewing antique books reprinted as they were written in ages past...do you think I am thankful?! Well, that's an understatement.

Take for instance Some Fruits of Solitude by William Penn. This beautiful, small book has the typical Attic Books torn-edged ecru pages and antique-looking hardback cover. Something unique about it for me is that I am pretty certain it is the oldest book (other than the Bible) I have read so far. Reading old books is like a mental workout---a good one. It trains you to read carefully and think about what you are reading. Like with this 17th century treasure. I admit it is cumbersome reading at times, but well worth it!

With its sometimes poetic, short-versed, Proverb-like style, it is no wonder that Some Fruits of Solitude was a daily inspiration to the likes of Robert Louis Stevenson.

I could quote all day long from the short 170 pages of this book, but I will choose just a few to leave you with as I again HIGHLY recommend you check into the selection of gems that Attic Books offers.

As Attic Books states in the Publisher's Notes:

An edition such as this of William Penn's work may at first seem to be a challenging endeavor. Yet, seeing the work in its original style, with what some would call its archaic style of spelling or spelling variants from the 17th century, is an important preservation of the original work.

And now from the author himself (with font and style as close as I could get to the style in the book):

~ READER,---This Enchiridion, I present thee with, is the Fruit of Solitude: A School few care to learn in, tho' None instructs us better.

~ Despise no Body, nor no Condition; lest it come to be thine own.

~ Opportunities should never be lost, because they can hardly be regained. 

~ Do Good with what thou hast, or it will do thee no good. 

~ Too few know when they have Enough; and fewer know how to employ it.

~ Patience and Diligence, like Faith, remove Mountains.

~ It must be therefore a gross Fault to strive so hard for the Pleasure of our Bodies, and be so insensible and careless of the Freedom of our Souls. 

~ Death cannot kill, what never dies. 

~ The truest end of Life, is, to know the Life that never ends. 

I leave you with a few of my own final thoughts---or questions, rather.

Do you know that Life that never ends? 

Do you have that Freedom of your Soul? 

Will death kill you or merely send you home? 

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from New Leaf Publishing Group. No other compensation was received. The fact that I received a complimentary product does not guarantee a favorable review.