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.
Benjamin HoffRead
Lots of people talk to animals... Not very many listen, though... That's the problem.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Understanding requires listening, not just talking.
This quote emphasizes the importance of active listening in our interactions with animals and, by extension, in our relationships with others. While many people may express thoughts or communicate verbally, true understanding and connection come from the willingness to listen and comprehend the perspectives of those around us.
Themes
ListeningUnderstandingCommunicationAnimalsConnection
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about empathy, one might say, 'As Benjamin Hoff wisely pointed out, lots of people talk to animals... Not very many listen, though... That's the problem.'
More from Benjamin Hoff
All quotes βHow can you get very far, If you don't know who you are? How can you do what you ought, If you don't know what you've got? And if you don't know which to do Of all the things in front of you, Then what you'll have when you are through Is just a mess without a clue Of all the best that can come true If you know What and Which and Who.
Benjamin HoffRead
The honey doesn't taste so good once it is being eaten; the goal doesn't mean so much once it is reached; the reward is no so rewarding once it has been given. If we add up all the rewards in our lives, we won't have very much. But if we add up the spaces *between* the rewards, we'll come up with quite a bit. And if we add up the rewards *and* the spaces, then we'll have everything - every minute of the time that we spent.
Benjamin HoffRead
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.
Benjamin HoffRead
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 HoffRead
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 HoffRead
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Lo! sweeten'd with the summer light,_x000D_ _x000D_ The full-juiced apple, waxing over-mellow,_x000D_ _x000D_ Drops in a silent autumn night._x000D_ _x000D_ All its allotted length of days_x000D_ _x000D_ The flower ripens in its place,_x000D_ _x000D_ Ripens and fades, and falls, and hath no toil,_x000D_ _x000D_ Fast-rooted in the fruitful soil.
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