“I suppose because it gives them something to do.” The odd thing, though, is that some people live like that.” “Lots of people have dreams like that,” I added reassuringly. “But whenever I reached for it, this jar of honey would sort of go someplace else.” I’d found a jar of honey…,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “That’s what happens when you go to sleep on the edge of the writing table,” I said. If you can’t think of anyone, why do you suppose that is? If you can think of a few, what do you suppose is responsible for their serenity? How many people in your life would you describe as serene? Happy serenity is the most noticeable characteristic of the Taoist personality. Just because it’s difficult doesn’t make it right. Working hard to convince someone with no interest in listening.Working hard in an unhealthy relationship.The ability to do hard things can easily turn into a liability… The more man interfered with the natural balance produced and governed by the universal laws, the further away the harmony retreated into the distance. In addition to introducing me to some of the core tenets of Taoism, this book really made me think about how much of my own approach to mental health and emotional well-being aligns with Taoism specifically-even more so than Buddhism which has had a much stronger explicit influence on psychology and mental health over the past few decades.Īs with all of my quote review articles, in the rest of this piece, I’ll share some of my favorite quotes from the book, along with some brief reflections of my own. To write a book that explained the principles of Taoism through Winnie-the-Pooh, and explained Winnie-the-Pooh through principles of Taoism. Here’s how the author describes his intention for the book: So I must have been primed to take notice when I saw someone tweet about a book called The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff. I’ve been reading a lot of Winnie-the-Pooh with my daughters lately.

Benjamin hoff the of pooh