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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.

Benjamin Hoff

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Benjamin Hoff
Age: 78
Born: 1946
Born: January 1
Author
Composer
Journalist
Photographer
Photojournalist
Writer
Oregon
United States
Wells
Scholar
Well
Ice
Insect
Summer
Frog
Ocean
Restricted
Learning
Tao
Imagine
Frogs
Understand
Conceive
Cannot
Insects

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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.
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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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Pooh is able to accomplish what he does because he is simpleminded.
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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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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.
Benjamin Hoff
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You'd be surprised how many people violate this simple principle every day of their lives and try to fit square pegs into round holes, ignoring the clear reality that Things Are As They Are.
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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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Sourness and bitterness come from the interfering and unappreciative mind. Life itself, when understood and utilized for what it is, is sweet. That is the message of The Vinegar Tasters.
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A clever mind is not a heart. Knowledge doesn't really care, wisdom does.
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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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Everything has its own place and function. That applies to people, although many don't seem to realize it, stuck as they are in the wrong job, the wrong marriage, or the wrong house. 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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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
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Lots of people talk to animals... Not very many listen, though... That's the problem.
Benjamin Hoff
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As any old Taoist walking out of the woods can tell you, simple-minded does not necessarily mean stupid.
Benjamin Hoff
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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.
Benjamin Hoff
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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.
Benjamin Hoff
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If people were superior to animals, they'd take good care of them, said Pooh.
Benjamin Hoff
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The wise know their limitations the foolish do not.
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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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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