winnie the pooh

I know that someone has already written a book about this, but the kids and I have been reading Winnie the Pooh stories and we are really enjoying them (thanks Kerry!) and I am just so impressed with how funny the stories are, how enjoyable they are for all of us and how much fun wisdom there is in Pooh's Very Little Brain.

These quotes all come from The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne, the second book in the Pooh series. There are some real gems here and it is no wonder that someone wrote a book about the Tao and Pooh.

Many of the wisest comments surround Pooh's poetry and song writing-
"'And that's the whole poem,' he said. 'Do you like it, Piglet?'
'All except the shillings,' said Piglet. 'I don't think they ought to be there.'
'They wanted to come in after the pounds,' explained Pooh, 'so I let them. It is the best way to write poetry, letting things come.'"

"Because Poetry and Hums aren't things which you get, they're things which get you. And all you can do is to go where they can find you."


And when a day goes from one way to the next Pooh muddles along, "Which makes it look like a bothering sort of day."

Frequently Pooh is pondering what to do-
"I could spend a happy morning
Seeing Roo,
I could spend a happy morning
Being Pooh,
For it doesn't seem to matter,
...What I do."

And sharing with others-
"Pooh began to feel a little more comfortable, because when you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it."


And listening to Rabbit, who likes to have things to do and plans to make-
"'Just what I feel,' said Rabbit. 'What do you say, Pooh?'
Pooh opened his eyes with a jerk and said, 'Extremely.'
'Extremely what?' asked Rabbit.
'What you were saying,' said Pooh. 'Undoubtedly.'
Piglet gave Pooh a stiffening sort of nudge, and Pooh, who felt more and more that he was somewhere else,got up slowly and began to look for himself."

"'Rabbit's clever,' said Pooh thoughtfully.
'Yes,' said Piglet, 'Rabbit's clever.'
'And he has Brain.'
'Yes,' said Piglet, 'Rabbit has Brain.'
There was a long silence.
'I suppose,' said Pooh, 'that that's why he never understands anything.'"

And alternative thinking-
"'Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?'
'Supposing it didn't,' said Pooh after careful thought.
Piglet was comforted by this.."

So you can see Pooh is a lot of fun. We are off to get the next one from the library this afternoon.