A Bear of Very Little Brain (The World According to Pooh)

The other day, in the course of an argument, somebody called me a person with a small brain.

Even while I took offence, I recalled a line from my childhood bible, Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne:

“For I am a Bear of Very Little Brain and long words Bother me.”

(Winnie-The-Pooh)

I’m all with the Bear of Very Little Brain on this one: long words bother me too. Especially when used by people who don’t know what they mean.

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The World According to Pooh

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Subsequently I went to look at the books. I had to burrow them out from the pile on the overloaded bookshelves of Young Friend of the Elephants. Passing through the hands of two children didn’t do the volumes any favours but they are still serviceable (that’s to say the sellotape still holds).

I passed a very agreeable hour leafing through Winnie-The-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner. It’s amazing what you can find when you read them with an adult mind.

For example…

Life truths:

“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.”

(The House at Pooh Corner)

Useful advice:

“You just stay here in this one corner of the Forest waiting for the others to come to you. Why don’t you go to them sometimes?”

(The House at Pooh Corner)

Sometimes you think it’s practically Zen:

“Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?”
“Supposing it didn’t,” said Pooh after careful thought.

(The House at Pooh Corner)

And it’s always entertaining:

“What I said was, ‘Is anybody at home?'” called out Pooh very loudly.
“No!” said a voice; and then added, “You needn’t shout so loud. I heard you quite well the first time.”

(Winnie-The-Pooh)

You could live your entire life by these two books, and not regret it. (In fact, I think I will.)

Pooh’s Disclaimer

By the way, at least half the quotes you find on the internet attributed to Pooh are not from the books by A. A. Milne. Generally, the more sententious they sound, the more likely they are from a s**t script by Disney. Go back to the source; you won’t regret it.

P.S. If you combine Winnie-the-Pooh with Eastern philosophy, you get The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff. For a different take.