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The play-it-safe pessimists of the world never accomplish much of anything, because they don’t look clearly and objectively at situations, they don’t recognize or believe in their own abilities to overcome even the smallest amount of risk.

Benjamin Hoff

A well-frog cannot imagine the ocean, nor can a summer insect conceive of ice. How then can a scholar understand the Tao? He is restricted by his own learning.
BENJAMIN HOFF

Ice Ocean Summer
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.
BENJAMIN HOFF

Simplicity Voice Way
In the Age of Perfect Virtue, men lived among the animals and birds as members of one large family. There were no distinctions between superior and inferior to separate one man or species from another. All retained their natural Virtue and lived in a state of pure simplicity.
BENJAMIN HOFF

Animal Men Perfect
Treat gain and loss the same.’ Don’t be Intimidated. Don’t make a Big Deal of anything – just accept things as they come to you.
BENJAMIN HOFF

Accepting Gains Loss
Without difficulties, life would be like a stream without rocks and curves – about as interesting as concrete. Without problems, there can be no personal growth, no group achievement, no progress of humanity. But what mattes about problems is what one does with them.
BENJAMIN HOFF

Curve Interesting Rocks
Lots of people talk to animals… Not very many listen, though… That’s the problem.
BENJAMIN HOFF

Dog Inspiring Love Problem
No matter how useful we may be, sometimes it takes us a while to recognize our own value.
BENJAMIN HOFF

Limitation Matter May Sometimes
If people were superior to animals, they’d take good care of them,” said Pooh.
BENJAMIN HOFF

Animal Nature People
Those who think that the rewarding things in life are somewhere over the rainbow ‘burn their toast a lot,’ said Pooh
BENJAMIN HOFF

Life Rainbow Things Thinking
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 Eeyore Educational System sees childhood as a waste of time, a luxury that society cannot afford . . . Put children in school at the earliest age possible; load them down with homework; take away their time, their creativity, their play, their power; then plug them into machines.
BENJAMIN HOFF

Children Creativity Education
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.
BENJAMIN HOFF

Pooh Tao Trying Way
When we give up our images of self-importance and our ideas of what should be, we can help things become what they need to be.
BENJAMIN HOFF

Give Up Ideas Self
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 Desire Suffering
Well, it takes all kinds to make a mess.
BENJAMIN HOFF

Kind Order Wells
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.
BENJAMIN HOFF

Loneliness People Spiritual

The play-it-safe pessimists of the world never accomplish much of anything, because they don’t look clearly and objectively at situations, they don’t recognize or believe in their own abilities to overcome even the smallest amount of risk.

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Popular Authors

The play-it-safe pessimists of the world never accomplish much of anything, because they don’t look clearly and objectively at situations, they don’t recognize or believe in their own abilities to overcome even the smallest amount of risk.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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