A good trainer can hear a horse speak to him. A great trainer can hear him whisper.
Interpretation
Understanding subtle communication is key to true connection.
This quote emphasizes the importance of being attentive and perceptive in communication, particularly in the context of working with horses. A good trainer acknowledges the horse's needs and feelings, while a great trainer possesses the deeper ability to sense and interpret the more subtle cues and whispers of the horse, signifying a profound bond and understanding beyond mere vocal expressions.
In practice
In a workshop about animal training, one could use this quote to highlight the importance of empathy.
I had been riding horses before my memory kicked in, so my life with horses had no beginning. It simply appeared from the fog of infancy. I survived a difficult childhood by traveling on the backs of horses, and in adulthood the pattern didn't change.
You must somehow understand that we as horsemen can do very little to teach the horse. What we can do is to create an environment in which he can learn.
For centuries, humans have said to horses, 'You do what I tell you or I'll hurt you.' Humans still say that to each other -- still threaten, force and intimidate. I'm convinced that my discoveries with horses have value in the workplace, in the educational and penal systems, and in the raising of children. At heart, I'm saying that no one else has the right to say 'you must' to an animal -- or to another human.
Those who are wise won't be busy, and those who are too busy can't be wise.
It is very important to know who you are. To make decisions. To show who you are.
I once heard a theologian remark that in the Gospels people approached Jesus with a question 183 times whereas he replied with a direct answer only three times. Instead, he responded with a different question, a story, or some other indirection. Evidently Jesus wants us to work out answers on our own, using the principles that he taught and lived.
I'm not perfect. And who knows how many times I've fallen short. We all fall short. That's the amazing thing about the grace of God.
This fellow is wise enough to play the fool; And to do that well craves a kind of wit: He must observe their mood on whom he jests, The quality of persons, and the time, And, like the haggard, check at every feather That comes before his eye. This is a practise As full of labour as a wise man's art For folly that he wisely shows is fit; But wise men, folly-fall'n, quite taint their wit.
A crude meal, no doubt, but the best of all sauces is hunger.
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