Which Shaker Saying Do You Like?

In 2008, my first Shaker book, The Outsider, was published. I eventually wrote seven more Shaker books.  The Refuge is the last Shaker book I’ve written. Since I’m having a giveaway here for that Shaker book, this seemed a perfect time to share once again some of the sayings attributed to the Shakers. I liked being able to includes some of these sayings in my stories. I thought it helped readers see more about how the Shakers thought.

They were a very practical people in many of their ways and they believed in “putting their hands to work and giving their hearts to God.” That saying  might be the best well known saying by anyone who has visited a Shaker village that has been turned into a historical site or by those who have read about Shakers to try to understand their beliefs and ways. For Shakers, work was a way to worship and that work had to be using their hands.

Here are some more sayings that are often attributed to the Shakers or were used by the Shakers as a guide to how to live.

Shaker Sayings

~“Do your work as if you had a thousand years to live, and as if you were to die tomorrow.” 

The Shakers wanted to do their work as perfectly as possible but at the same time as efficiently as they could.

“He did not think when sowing those wild oats in his youth how uncomfortable the gritty oatmeal would prove to be for his aged teeth.”

I think I worked this one into a story once, but don’t remember which story.

“Never wish a thing done; do it!”

Good advice for anyone, especially someone wanting to write a book. Maybe I need to print that up and paste it over my desk.

“It is just as much a duty to commend a person for doing well as it is to reprove him for doing ill.”

That’s a good one to practice it.

“A place for everything and everything in its place.”

This one is another I need to practice. Really need to. Of course, the Shakers didn’t believe in having anything that didn’t have a use for cleaning or working. They kept everything as simple as they could. No knickknacks sitting about. Nothing in the way of sweeping their floors. They even hung their chairs upside down on peg boards they put around their rooms for the purpose of keeping the floor uncluttered. Oh, and the chairs were hung upside down so the seats wouldn’t get dusty. The Shakers did not abide dirt in any corner or spot.

“Our thoughts are character molds. They shape language and actions.”

The Shakers intended to root out what they considered wrong thoughts. One of the things required of Shaker members was to confess their sins to an elder.

I’ve used the above in my Shaker books and many others Shaker sayings as well. Some of my favorites that have appeared often in my stories are:

• “None preaches better than the ant, and it says nothing.”
  
• “Engaged in thy duty, fear no danger.”
• “Happiness does not so much depend on circumstances as we think. Within our souls the foundations must abide.”

Chance to Win a Book

Still not a lot of entries in my giveaway for The Refuge. So leave a comment on this post and I’ll drop your name in my giveaway hat for a chance to win. If you’ve already commented on the previous posts that are part of the giveaway, comment here again and get another entry. That might help you turn out to be the winner. Oh, you do need to be 18 or older to enter. Deadline to enter is midnight EST October 10, 2026. That means this is the last chance to enter.

Which saying do you like best or do you remember from one of my stories?