The testimony to simplicity is integral to Quaker faith: our spiritual responsiveness depends on being as free as possible from dependence on material security. Quakers therefore seek to resist the temptation to define their place in society by acquiring possessions. In so far as we are led towards true simplicity we will increasingly be called to dissent from much of what the modern world stands for.
Simplicity is not just about possessions but also about attitudes. Because of their integrity in business dealings, many early Friends prospered in business, especially in the 19th century. The wealth they accumulated was not, however, sought for its own sake but was often used for the wider benefit of society and especially the dispossessed. We live much less simply than our forebears a hundred years ago, or than people in most other countries in the world. Simplicity involves constantly challenging the way we live and what our true needs are, and especially how our own standard of living is sometimes achieved at the expense of others. It means standing
aside from the fuelling of wants and manufacturing of new desires.