Benjamin Hoff Quotes - Page 3

Quotes about:

Animals Earth Emptiness Feelings Goals Harmony Loneliness

From the state of the Uncarved Block comes the ability to enjoy the simple and the quiet, the natural and the plain. Along with that comes the ability to do things spontaneously and have them work, odd as that may appear to others at times. As Piglet put it in Winnie-the-Pooh, "Pooh hasn't much Brain, but he never comes to any harm. He does silly things and they turn out right."

Benjamin Hoff

Block, Silly, Simple

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In the story of Ugly Duckling, when did the Ugly Duckling stop feeling Ugly? When he realized that he was a Swan. Each of us has something Special, a swan of some sort, hidden inside somewhere. But until we recognize that it's there, what can we do but splash around, treading water? The Wise are Who They Are. They work with what they've got and do what they can do.

Benjamin Hoff

Wise, Swans, Ugly Duckling

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There was a man that hated his footprints and his shadow, so one day he thought that if he ran fast enough, his footprints and shadow would not be able to follow him and then he never ever had to look at them again. He ran and he ran as fast as he could, but the shadow and the footprints had no problems keeping up to him. And he ran even faster and all of a sudden he fell dead to the ground. But if he been standing still there hadn't been any footprints and if he had been resting under a tree his shadow had been swallowed of the trees shadow.

Benjamin Hoff

Men, Tree, Shadow

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"What's that?" the Unbeliever asked.
"Wisdom from the Western Taoist," I said.
"It sounds like something from Winnie-the-Pooh," he said.
"It is," I said.
"That's not about Taoism," he said.
"Oh, yes it is," I said.

Benjamin Hoff

Words Of Wisdom, Taoism, Sound

"The Tao of Pooh". Book by Benjamin Hoff, 1982.

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The main problem with this great obsession for saving time is very simple: you can't save time. You can only spend it wisely or foolishly. The Bisy Backson has practically no time at all, because he's too busy wasting it by trying to save it. And by trying to save it, he ends up wasting the whole thing.

Benjamin Hoff

Simple, Trying, Saving

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And when you try too hard, it doesn't work. Try grabbing something quickly and precisely with a tensed-up arm; then relax and try it again. Try doing something with a tense mind. The surest way to become Tense, Awkward, and Confused is to develop a mind that tries too hard-one that thinks too much.

Benjamin Hoff

Confused, Thinking, Awkward

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The Christmas presents once opened are Not So Much Fun as they were while we were in the process of examining, lifting, shaking, thinking about, and opening them. Three hundred sixty-five days later, we try again and find that the same thing has happened. Each time the goal is reached, it becomes Not So Much Fun, and we're off to reach the next one, then the next one, then the next.

Benjamin Hoff

Fun, Thinking, Goal

"The Tao of Pooh". Book by Benjamin Hoff, 1982.

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Now, scholars can be very useful and necessary, in their own dull and unamusing way. They provide a lot of information. It's just that there is Something More, and that Something More is what life is really all about.

Benjamin Hoff

Dull, Information, Way

"The Tao of Pooh". Book by Benjamin Hoff, 1982.

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The urge to grow and develop, present in all forms of life, becomes perverted in the Bisy Backson's mind into a constant struggle to change everything (the Bulldozer Backson) and everyone (the Bigoted Backson) else but himself, and interfere with things he has no business interfering with, including practically every form of life on earth.

Benjamin Hoff

Struggle, Mind, Earth

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Many people are afraid of Emptiness, however, because it reminds them of Loneliness. Everything has to be filled in, it seems-appointment books, hillsides, vacant lots-but when all the spaces are filled, the Loneliness really begins. Then the Groups are joined, the Classes are signed up for, and the Gift-to-Yourself items are bought. When the Loneliness starts creeping in the door, the Television Set is turned on to make it go away. But it doesn't go away. So some of us do instead, and after discarding the emptiness of the Big Congested Mess, we discover the fullness of Nothing.

Benjamin Hoff

Loneliness, Book, Class

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A way of life that keeps saying 'Around the next corner, above the next step,' works against the natural order of things and makes it so difficult to be happy and good.

Benjamin Hoff

Order, Next Steps, Way

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"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"
"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"
"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet . Pooh nodded thoughtfully.
"It's the same thing," he said.
"What's that?" the Unbeliever asked.
"Wisdom from the Western Taoist,"I said.
"It sounds like something from Winnie-the-Pooh," he said.
"It is," I said.
"That's not about Taoism," he said.
"Oh, yes it is," I said.

Benjamin Hoff

Wisdom, Morning, Food

"The Tao of Pooh". Book by Benjamin Hoff, 1982.

16 Copy quote
There are things about ourselves that we need to get rid of; there are things we need to change. But at the same time, we do not need to be too desperate, too ruthless, too combative. Along the way to usefulness and happiness, many of those things will change themselves, and the others can be worked on as we go. The first thing we need to do is recognize and trust our own Inner Nature, and not lose sight of it.

Benjamin Hoff

Sight, Needs, Way

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One sometimes gets the impression that those intimidating words are there to keep us from understanding. That way, the scholars can appear Superior, and will not likely be suspected of Not Knowing Something.

Benjamin Hoff

Knowing, Understanding, Way

"The Tao of Pooh". Book by Benjamin Hoff, 1982.

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From the Taoist point of view, the natural result of this harmonious way of living is happiness.

Benjamin Hoff

Views, Way, Tao Of Pooh

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Cleverness, after all, has its limitations. Its mechanical judgments and clever remarks tend to prove inaccurate with passing time, because it doesn't look very deeply into things to begin with.

Benjamin Hoff

Clever, Looks, Tao Of Pooh

"The Tao of Pooh". Book by Benjamin Hoff, 1982.

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But down through the centuries, man has developed a mind that separates him from the world of reality, the world of natural laws. This mind tries too hard, wears itself out, and ends up weak and sloppy. Such a mind, even if of high intelligence, is inefficient. It drives down the street in a fast-moving car and thinks its at the store, going over a grocery list. Then it wonders why accidents occur.

Benjamin Hoff

Moving, Thinking, Reality

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Eeyore religion says that the earth isn't worth saving, anyway, and that when it comes to an end, the Faithful will be transported instantly to heaven. No problem. We'd like to see them explain things to Saint Peter at the Gate, when he asks them what they did with the world that God entrusted to them. That might get a bit sticky.

Benjamin Hoff

Heaven, Faithful, Earth

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The major lesson Tiggers need to learn is that if they don't control their impulses, their impulses will control them. No matter how much they do, Tiggers are never satisfied because they don't know the feeling of accomplishment that eventually comes when one persistently applies one's will to the attaining of non-immediately-reachable goals.

Benjamin Hoff

Accomplishment, Goal, Feelings

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We simply need to believe in the power that's within us, and use it.

Benjamin Hoff

Believe, Needs, Use

"The Tao of Pooh". Book by Benjamin Hoff, 1982.

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To Buddha, the second figure in the painting, life on earth was bitter, filled with attachments and desires that led to suffering.

Benjamin Hoff

Attachment, Suffering, Desire

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Phonographic. It goes around and around. Sometimes it gets stuck. That's why I remember things so well.

Benjamin Hoff

Remember, Sometimes, Stuck

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Practically everything from hairstyles to lifestyles is endorsed as some sort of drug to be taken Now for Instant Relief.

Benjamin Hoff

Taken, Drug, Relief

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Those who think that the rewarding things in life are somewhere over the rainbow 'burn their toast a lot,' said Pooh

Benjamin Hoff

Thinking, Things In Life, Rainbow

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Under Confucianism, the use of precisely measured court music, prescribed steps, actions, and phrases all added up to an extremely complex system of rituals, each used for a particular purpose at a particular time.

Benjamin Hoff

Steps, Purpose, Phrases

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Born: 1946
Occupation: Author
Cite this Page: Citation

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