Silly Old Bear

“Silly Old Bear!” Almost every child and adult has heard this phrase before which comes from the Winne the Pooh series written by A.A. Milne. In this series of books written about Winnie the Pooh, the “silly old bear,” his friends, and their adventures together in the Hundred Acre Wood Forest, Milne captures the “incomparably and enduringly, the frolic and indolence, the sweetness and foolishness, of animals which are also people(Discovering Authors).” Many …

…Taoism, like Pooh himself, listen to the voices within themselves, the voices of simple-mindedness and wisdom. These voices go beyond knowledge(Hoff 154). Pooh may be a simple-minded, childish bear, but his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood Forest have demonstrated that knowledge and cleverness can often lead to no accomplishment. All people possess an Owl, Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore, and Rabbit within themselves, but it is the “Silly Old Bear” that they must choose to follow.