Quote

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

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Benjamin Hoff
Age: 78
Born: 1946
Born: January 1
Author
Composer
Journalist
Photographer
Photojournalist
Writer
Oregon
United States
Thinking
Become
Precisely
Hard
Relax
Tensed
Trying
Confused
Grabbing
Work
Quickly
Surest
Much
Develop
Relaxation
Mind
Thinks
Tense
Something
Arms
Awkward
Way
Doesn
Tries

More quotes by Benjamin Hoff

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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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A clever mind is not a heart. Knowledge doesn't really care, wisdom does.
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We don't need to shift our responsibilities onto the shoulders of some deified Spiritual Superman, or sit around and wait for Fate to come knocking at the door. We simply need to believe in the power that's within us, and use it. When we do that, and stop imitating others and competing against them, things begin to work for us.
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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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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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. But you can spend it wisely or foolishly.
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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.
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Unfortunately complaining is one thing Eeyores are not afraid to do. They grudgingly carry their thimbles to the Fountain of Life, then mumble and grumble that they weren't given enough.
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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.
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Inner Nature, when relied on, cannot be fooled. But many people do not look at it or listen to it, and consequently do not understand themselves very much. Having little understanding of themselves, they have little respect for themselves, and are therefore easily influenced by others.
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Lots of people talk to animals... Not very many listen, though... That's the problem.
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If people were superior to animals, they'd take good care of them, said 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.
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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.
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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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As any old Taoist walking out of the woods can tell you, simple-minded does not necessarily mean stupid.
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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