More Fruits of Solitude: Being the Second Part of Reflections and Maxims, Relating to the Conduct of Human Life

by William Penn

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British Library

T139390

Anonymous. By William Penn. 'Some fruits of solitude', 7th ed., London, 1718. With an index.

printed and sold, by the Assigns of J. Sowle, 1718. [6],111, [3]p.; 12°

Genres: Nonfiction, Philosophy

122 pages, Hardcover

First published May 28, 2010

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and a prominent Quaker.

On November 28, 1984 William Penn and his second wife, Hannah Callowhill Penn became Honorary Citizens of the United States, upon an Act of Congress by Presidential Proclamation 5284.

Reviews

[Sortior · Rating 3 out of 5]

At least it is a small helping of fruit

[Keith · Rating 2 out of 5]

[Image: Photograph of a statue of William Penn in Philadelphia]

This 1718 book is a sequel to William Penn’s first collection of proverb-like sayings Some Fruits of Solitude (1682). I came across both books in volume one of The Harvard Classics. More Fruits of Solitude also contains genuine wisdom but is mired, at least for me, by the rather dull format. I craved more of a narrative to go along with the saying. On the plus side, it is a short work that can be easily read in a day. It is notable that, writing some 26 years later, Penn is more focused on attacking vice and immoral people this time around:

“To hear two Men talk the Reverse of their own Sentiments, with all the good Breeding and Appearance of Friendship imaginable, on purpose to Cozen or Pump each other, is to a Man of Virtue and Honor, one of the Melancholiest, as well as most Nauseous Thing in the World.”

I have a great deal of respect for Penn and the efforts he made in his life on behalf of democracy and religious freedom. This book is worth reading if only for a look into the mind of a man of good character and admirable ambitions.

More quotes:
“For no Man can be long believed, that teaches all Men to distrust him.”
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“Reason, like the Sun, is Common to All; And ‘t is for want of examining all by the same Light and Measure, that we are not all of the same Mind: For all have it to that End, though all do not use it So.”
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Our noble English patriarchs, as well as patriots, were so sensible of this evil, that they made several excellent laws, commonly called sumptuary, to forbid, at least limit, the pride of the people; and, because the execution of them would be our interest and honour, their neglect must be our just reproach and loss.
It is but reasonable that the punishment of pride and excess should help to support the government; since it must otherwise inevitably be ruined by them.
But some say, 'It ruins trade, and will make the poor burdensome to the publick;' but if such trade, in consequence, ruins the kingdom, is it not time to ruin that trade? Is moderation no part of our no part of our duty, and is tem|perance an enemy to government.
He is a Judas, that will get money by any thing.
To wink at a trade that effe|minates the people, and invades the ancient discipline of the kingdom, is a crime capital, and to be severely punished, instead of being excused, by the magistrate.
Is there no better employment for the poor than luxury? Miserable nation!

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“It is reasonable to concur where conscience does not forbid a compliance; for conformity is at least a civil virtue. But we should only press it in necessaries, the rest may prove a snare and a temptation to break society. But above all, it is a weakness in Religion and Government, where it is carried to things of an indifferent nature. . . . Liberty is always the price of it. Such conformists have little to boast of, and therefore the less reason to reproach others that have more latitude.”

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[Image: Cover of the Delphi Classics’ The Harvard Classics]

Citation:
Penn, W. (2018). Fruits of solitude, part two. In Charles W. Eliot & Delphi Classics (Eds.), The Harvard classics (1st edition) [eBook]. Delphi Classics. https://www.delphiclassics.com/shop/t... (Original work published 1718)

Title: More Fruits of Solitude
Original Title: More fruits of solitude being the second part of reflections and maxims, relating to the conduct of human life
Author(s): William Penn
Series: The Harvard Classics (1909): Volume I - Delphi Complete Harvard Classics and Shelf of Fiction
Year: 1718
Genre: Nonfiction - Wisdom text
Date(s) read: 1/14/24
Book #16 in 2024
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[Andrew Malcolmson]

It turns out that the fruits of solitude are like the leftover rubble of a Saturday market; bitter, well past their sell by date, and drooling violently from the boot of a hungover farmer.

[milan · Rating 2 out of 5]

the first one was better in my opinion (or i just had enough of aphorisms)

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this (along with Ben Franklin's Autobiography and the first "Fruits") as part of The Harvard Classics Vol. I. Most of my review of "Some Fruits of Solitude" holds here as well, although I didn't take to this as well as I did the first. But books of proverbs and wisdom are, as a rule, always a pleasure; like grapes on the vine, just taste the best and discard the rest.