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 HOFFThe surest way to become Tense, Awkward, and Confused is to develop a mind that tries too hard – one that thinks too much.
More Benjamin Hoff Quotes
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Pooh is able to accomplish what he does because he is simpleminded.
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Modern man’s difficulties, dangerous beliefs and feelings of loneliness, spiritual emptiness,and personal weakness are caused by his illusions about, and separation from, the natural world.
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The wise know their limitations; the foolish do not.
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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.
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We simply need to believe in the power that’s within us, and use it.
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Reality is what one makes it. And the more negative reality one nurtures and creates, the more of it one has.
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Knowledge and Experience do not necessarily speak the same language.
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The Universe knows what it’s doing. So don’t develop a big ego, and don’t be afraid.
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No matter how useful we may be, sometimes it takes us a while to recognize our own value.
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It is very hard to be brave,” said Piglet, sniffing slightly, “when you’re only a Very Small Animal.” Rabbit, who had begun to write very busily, looked up and said: “It is because you are a very small animal that you will be Useful in the adventure before us.
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Practically everything from hairstyles to lifestyles is endorsed as some sort of drug to be taken Now for Instant Relief.
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Enjoy the simple, the natural and the plain. Along with that comes the ability to do things spontaneously and have them work.
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As any old Taoist walking out of the woods can tell you, simple-minded does not necessarily mean stupid.
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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.”
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Do you really want to be happy? You can begin by being appreciative of who you are and what you’ve got.
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But isn’t the knowledge that comes from experience more valuable than the knowledge that doesn’t? It seems fairly obvious to some of us that a lot of scholars need to go outside and sniff around – walk through the grass, talk to the animals. That sort of thing.
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A clever mind is not a heart. Knowledge doesn’t really care, wisdom does.
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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.
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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.
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When you know and respect your Inner Nature, you know where you belong. You also know where you don’t belong.
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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.
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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.
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Phonographic. It goes around and around. Sometimes it gets stuck. That’s why I remember things so well.
BENJAMIN HOFF