Oren Lyons Quotes

• Even through you and I are in different boats, you in your boat and we our canoe, we share the same river of life. What befalls me befalls you. And downstream, downstream in this river of life, our children will pay for our selfishness, for our greed, and for our lack of vision.

  Oren Lyons

  Children, Rivers, Greed

  46 Copy quote

• I do not see a delegation for the four-footed. I see no seat for the eagles. We forget and we consider ourselves superior, but we are after all a mere part of the Creation. And we must continue to understand where we are. And we stand between the mountain and the ant, somewhere and there only, as part of the Creation.

  Oren Lyons

  Native American, Eagles, Understanding

  "Animal Grace: Can Humans Rise to the Call?" by Sheila Shayon, www.huffingtonpost.com. July 3, 2009.

  90 Copy quote

• The environment isn't over here. The environment isn't over there. You are the environment.

  Oren Lyons

  Environment

  53 Copy quote

• Man sometimes thinks he's been elevated to be the controller, the ruler, but he's not. He's only part of the whole. Man's job is not to exploit, but to oversee, to be a steward. Man has responsibility, not power.

  Oren Lyons

  Jobs, Responsibility, Men

  48 Copy quote

• The law says if you poison the water, you’ll die. The law says that if you poison the air, you’ll suffer. The law says if you degrade where you live, you’ll suffer... If you don’t learn that, you can only suffer. There’s no discussion with this law.

  Oren Lyons

  Air, Law, Water

  73 Copy quote

• All things are bound together, all things connect. Whatever befalls the earth, befalls also the children of the earth.

  Oren Lyons

  God, Children, Together

  46 Copy quote

• What you people call your natural resources our people call our relatives

  Oren Lyons

  People, Natural, Resources

  35 Copy quote

• In the absence of the sacred, nothing is sacred - everything is for sale.

  Oren Lyons

  Sacred, Absence

  40 Copy quote

• Times change but principles don't.
  Times change but lands do not.
  Times change but our culture and
  our language remain the same.
  And that's what you have to keep intact.
  It's not what you wear - it's what's in your heart.

  Oren Lyons

  Heart, Land, Principles

  37 Copy quote

• When we walk upon Mother Earth,
  we always plant our feet carefully
  because we know the faces of our future generations
  are looking up at us from beneath the ground.
  we never forget them.

  Oren Lyons

  Mother, Feet, Faces

  37 Copy quote

• Life will go on as long as there is someone to sing, to dance, to tell stories and to listen.

  Oren Lyons

  Long, Stories, Goes On

  38 Copy quote

• What if we choose to eradicate ourselves from this Earth, by whatever means? The Earth goes nowhere. And in time, it will regenerate... There may not be people, but the Earth will regenerate. And you know why? - Because the Earth has all the time in the world and we don't.

  Oren Lyons

  Mean, People, What If

  "The 11th Hour". Documentary, www.imdb.com. 2007.

  36 Copy quote

• Science can point out dangers, but science cannot turn the direction of minds and hearts. That is the province of spiritual powers within and without our very beginnings-powers that are the mysteries of life itself.

  Oren Lyons

  Life, Spiritual, Heart

  24 Copy quote

• We wonder, how do you instruct seven billion people as to the relationship to the Earth? Because unless they understand that and relate the way they should be, future is pretty dim for the human species.

  Oren Lyons

  People, Way, Earth

  "Onondaga Leader Oren Lyons, Pete Seeger on International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples". "Democracy Now!" with Amy Goodman, www.democracynow.org. August 9, 2013.

  37 Copy quote

• If you don't have a moral question governing your society, then you don't have a society that is going to survive.

  Oren Lyons

  Moral, Ifs, Governing

  30 Copy quote

• The young generation can influence their elders and can make them understand the environmental problems that are faced by us today. The youth can make them see that our environment is deteriorating day by day.

  Oren Lyons

  Young Generation, Environmental, Generations

  43 Copy quote

• Although we are in different boats you in your boat and we in our canoe we share the same river of life.

  Oren Lyons

  Rivers, Diversity, Lacrosse

  49 Copy quote

• We say that the faces of coming generations are looking up from the earth. So when you put your feet down, you put them down very carefully - because there are generations coming one after the other. If you think in these terms, then you'll walk a lot more carefully, be more respectful of this earth.

  Oren Lyons

  Thinking, Feet, Faces

  25 Copy quote

• We have to do that. We have to be thankful. That's what we said. Two things were told to us: To be thankful, so those are our ceremonies, ceremonies of thanksgiving. We built nations around it, and you can do that, too. And the other thing they said was enjoy life. That's a rule, a law- enjoy life- you're supposed to.

  Oren Lyons

  Law, Two, Enjoy Life

  16 Copy quote

• I do not see a delegation for the four-footed. I see no seat for the eagles. We forget and we consider ourselves superior.

  Oren Lyons

  Nature, Native American, Eagles

  "Animal Grace: Can Humans Rise to the Call?" by Sheila Shayon, www.huffingtonpost.com. July 3, 2009.

  16 Copy quote

• If you have a clean environment, you will have a healthy atmosphere. This will make you happy and your happiness will bring joy to your parents and it will affect the community, too. Then there will be peace of mind to one and all.

  Oren Lyons

  Community, Joy, Parent

  21 Copy quote

• * We can still alter our course. It is NOT too late. We still have options. We need the courage to change our values to the regeneration of our families, the life that surrounds us.

  Oren Lyons

  Family, Courage, Peace

  18 Copy quote

• When you talk about Lacrosse, you talk about the lifeblood of the six nations. The game is ingrained into our culture and our system and our lives. (the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora)

  Oren Lyons

  Games, Lacrosse, Mohawks

  22 Copy quote

• When you look at where team sports are going, the National Football League is turning into organized warfare.

  Oren Lyons

  Sports, Football, Team

  18 Copy quote

• We have to get back to the spiritual law if we are to survive.

  Oren Lyons

  Spiritual, Law, Get Back

  8 Copy quote

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