“And when you try too hard, it doesn’t work. Try grabbing something quickly and precisely with a tensed-up arm; then relax your arm and try it again. Try doing something with a tense mind and see how much harder it is to think. The surest way to become Tense, Awkward, and Confused is to develop a mind that tries too hard – a mind that thinks too much.” – Benjamin Hoff
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“While Eeyore frets… and Piglet hesitates … and Rabbit calculates … and Owl pontificates … Pooh just is…” – The Tao of Pooh
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“To know the way,
we go the way,
we do the way.
The way we do,
the things we do,
it’s all right there in front of you.
But if you try too hard to see it,
you’ll only become confused.
I am me and you are you
as you can see.
But when you do,
just the things that you CAN do,
you will find the way.
And the way will follow you.”
– The Tao of Pooh
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Tigger asked “Just How do you do it, Pooh?”“Do What?” asked Pooh.
“Become so Effortless.”
“I don’t do much of anything,” he said.
“But all those things of yours get done.”
“They just sort of happen,” he said.
– The Tao of Pooh
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“You can’t save time, you can only spend it. But you can spend it wisely or you can spend it foolishly.” – The Tao of Pooh
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“Things just happen in the right way, at the right time. At least when you let them, when you work with circumstances instead of saying, ‘This isn’t supposed to be happening this way,’ and trying harder to make it happen some other way.” – The Tao of Pooh
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“The honey doesn’t taste so good once it is being eaten; the goal doesn’t mean so much once it is reached; the reward is not so rewarding once it has been given. If we add up all the rewards in our lives, we won’t have very much. But if we add up the spaces *between* the rewards, we’ll come up with quite a bit. And if we add up the rewards *and* the spaces, then we’ll have everything – every minute of the time that we spent.” – The Tao of Pooh
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“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said piglet at last, “what’s the first thin 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. – The Dao of Pooh
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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...” – The Tao of Pooh
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“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.” – The Tao of Pooh
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“How can you get very far, If you don’t know who you are? How can you do what you ought, If you don’t know what you’ve got? And if you don’t know which to do Of all the things in front of you, Then what you’ll have when you are through, Is just a mess without a clue – Of all the best that can come true, If you know What and Which and Who.” – The Tao of Pooh
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“The masters of life know the way, for they listen to the voice within them, the voice of wisdom and simplicity, the voice that reasons beyond cleverness and knows beyond knowledge.” – The Tao of Pooh
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“How do you spell love?” Asked Piglet. You don’t spell it, you feel it.” Answered Pooh – The Tao of Pooh
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“Say Pooh why aren’t you busy?”, I said. “Because it’s a nice day”, said Pooh. “But you could be doing something important”, I said. “I am”, said Pooh. “Oh? Doing what?” “Listening”, he said. “Listening to what?” “To the birds. And that squirrel over there.” “What are they saying?”, I asked. “That it’s a nice day”, said Pooh. “But you know that already”, I said. “Yes, but it’s always good to hear that somebody else thinks so too”, he said. – The Tao of Pooh
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“A clever mind is not a heart. Knowledge doesn’t really care, wisdom does.” – The Tao of Pooh
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“Rabbit’s clever,” said Pooh thoughtfully. “Yes,” said Piglet, “Rabbit’s clever.” “And he has Brain.” “Yes,” said Piglet, “Rabbit has Brain.” There was a long silence. “I suppose,” said Pooh, “that, that’s why he never understands anything.” – The Tao of Pooh
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“The surest way to become Tense, Awkward, and Confused is to develop a mind that tries too hard – one that thinks too much.” – The Tao of Pooh
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“An Empty sort of mind is valuable for finding pearls and tails and things because it can see what’s in front of it. An Overstuffed mind is unable to. While the Clear mind listens to a bird singing, the Stuffed-Full-of-Knowledge-and-Cleverness mind wonders what kind of bird is singing. The more Stuffed Up it is, the less it can hear through its own ears and see through its own eyes. Knowledge and Cleverness tend to concern themselves with the wrong sort of things, and a mind confused by Knowledge, Cleverness, and Abstract Ideas tends to go chasing off after things that don’t matter, or that don’t even exist, instead of seeing, appreciating, and making use of what is right in front of it.” – The Tao of Pooh
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“Wisdom, Happiness, and Courage are not waiting somewhere out beyond sight at the end of a straight line; they’re part of a continuous cycle that begins right here. They’re not only the ending, but the beginning as well.” – The Tao of Pooh
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“…the adult is not the highest stage of development. The end of the cycle is that of the independent, clear-minded, all-seeing Child. That is the level known as wisdom. When the Tao Te Ching and other wise books say things like, “Return to the beginning; become a child again” that’s what they are referring to. Why do the enlightened seem filled with light and happiness like children? Why do they sometimes even look and talk like children? Because they are. The wise are “Children Who Know”. Their minds have been emptied of the countless minute somethings of small learning, and filled with the great wisdom of the Great Nothing, the Way of the Universe.” – The Tao of Pooh
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“Like silence after noise, or cool, clear water on a hot, stuffy day – Emptiness cleans out the messy mind and charges up the batteries of spiritual energy. 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 learn to dive in instead, and after discarding the compulsions of the “Big Congested Mess”, we discover the fullness of Nothing.” – The Tao of Pooh
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