Native American Wisdom Quotes

• 

  The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

  Chief Seattle

  Life, Travel, Men

  Chief Seattle, “This we know”

  242 Copy quote

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• So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.

  Tecumseh

  Song, Love You, Native American

  "A Sourcebook for Earth's Community of Religions". Book by Joel Diederik Beversluis, 1993.

  180 Copy quote

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• The first peace, which is the most important,
  is that which comes within the souls of people
  when they realize their relationship,
  their oneness with the universe and all its powers,
  and when they realize that at the center of the universe
  dwells the Great Spirit,
  and that this center is really everywhere,
  it is within each of us.

  Black Elk

  Inspirational, Relationship, Wisdom

  "The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux". Book by Black Elk and Joseph Epes Brown, 1953.

  276 Copy quote

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• So long as mists envelop you, be still. Be still until the sunlight pours through and dispels the mists - as it surely will. Then act with courage.

  Chief White Eagle

  Native American, Long, Pieces

  18 Copy quote
• 

  It does not require many words to speak the truth.

  Chief Joseph

  Truth, Native American, Reality

  226 Copy quote

• The faintness of the stars, the freshness of the morning, the dewdrop on the flower, speaks to me.

  Chief Dan George

  Morning, Stars, Flower

  Chief Dan George, “My Heart Soars”

  103 Copy quote

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• Help me always to speak the truth quietly, to listen with an open mind when others speak, and to remember the peace that may be found in silence.

  Robert Muller

  Attitude, Native American, Silence

  19 Copy quote

• We believe profoundly in silence-the sign of a perfect equilibrium. Silence is the absolute poise or balance of body, mind, and spirit.

  Charles Alexander Eastman

  Believe, Native American, Perfect

  16 Copy quote

• Man's heart away from nature becomes hard.

  Standing Bear

  Inspirational, Life, Nature

  69 Copy quote

• If you talk to the animals they will talk with you and you will know each other. If you do not talk to them you will not know them and what you do not know, you will fear. What one fears, one destroys.

  Chief Dan George

  Inspirational, Life, Native American

  339 Copy quote

• The beauty of the trees, the softness of the air, the fragrance of the grass, they speak to me. The summit of the mountain, the thunder of the sky, the rhythm of the sea, speaks to me. The faintness of the stars, the freshness of the morning, the dewdrop on the flower, speaks to me. The strength of the fire, the taste of the salmon, the trail of the sun, and the life that never goes away, they speak to me. And my heart soars.

  Chief Dan George

  Morning, Nature, Stars

  Chief Dan George, “My Heart Soars”

  536 Copy quote

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• May the stars carry your sadness away, may the flowers fill your heart with beauty, may hope forever wipe away your tears. And, above all, may silence make you strong.

  Chief Dan George

  Stars, Flower, Condolences

  590 Copy quote

• Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend,even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none. When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.

  Tecumseh

  Lonely, Morning, Lying

  "A Sourcebook for Earth's Community of Religions". Book by Joel Diederik Beversluis, 1993.

  112 Copy quote

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• The land is sacred. These words are at the core of your being. The land is our mother, the rivers our blood. Take our land away and we die. That is, the Indian in us dies.

  Mary Brave Bird

  Inspirational, Mother, Native American

  Mary Brave Bird, Richard Erdoes (2007). “Ohitika Woman”, p.220, Grove Press

  67 Copy quote

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• Don't let yesterday use up too much of today.

  Will Rogers

  Inspirational, Motivational, Moving On

  108 Copy quote

• The Wise Man believes profoundly in silence - the sign of a perfect equilibrium. Silence is the absolute poise or balance of body, mind and spirit. The man who preserves his selfhood ever calm and unshaken by the storms of existence - not a leaf, as it were, astire on the tree, not a ripple upon the surface of the shinning pool-his, in the mind of the unlettered sage, is the ideal attitude and conduct of life. Silence is the cornerstone of character.

  Charles Alexander Eastman

  Wise, Attitude, Believe

  63 Copy quote

• Everything the Power of the World does is done in a circle. The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power whirls. Birds make their nest in circles... The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same and both are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were.

  John Neihardt

  Stars, Native American, Moon

  "Black Elk Speaks : being the life story of a holy man of the Ogalala Sioux" by John Neihardt, (Ch. 17), 1961.

  8 Copy quote

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• Do the very best you can.

  Dale Carnegie

  Success, Giving Up, Fear

  Dale Carnegie (2010). “How To Enjoy Your Life And Your Job”, p.62, Simon and Schuster

  11 Copy quote

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• Traditional people of Indian nations have interpreted the two roads that face the light-skinned race as the road to technology and the road to spirituality. We feel that the road to technology.... has led modern society to a damaged and seared earth. Could it be that the road to technology represents a rush to destruction, and that the road to spirituality represents the slower path that the traditional native people have traveled and are now seeking again? The earth is not scorched on this trail. The grass is still growing there.

  William Commanda

  Native American, Technology, Two

  49 Copy quote

• When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.

  Tecumseh

  Life, Death, Wisdom

  "A Sourcebook for Earth's Community of Religions". Book by Joel Diederik Beversluis, 1993.

  210 Copy quote

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• 

  The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.

  Chief Joseph

  Mother, Native American, Rights

  Lincoln Hall Speech in Washington D.C., January 14, 1879.

  142 Copy quote

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• I will obey every law, or submit to the penalty.

  Chief Joseph

  Native American, Law, American Indian

  Lincoln Hall Speech in Washington D.C., January 14, 1879.

  10 Copy quote

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• Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.

  Tecumseh

  Wise, Native American, Abuse

  "A Sourcebook for Earth's Community of Religions". Book by Joel Diederik Beversluis, 1993.

  53 Copy quote

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• Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.

  Tecumseh

  Love You, Native American, Perfect

  "A Sourcebook for Earth's Community of Religions". Book by Joel Diederik Beversluis, 1993.

  71 Copy quote

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• We live, we die, and like the grass and trees, renew ourselves from the soft earth of the grave. Stones crumble and decay, faiths grow old and they are forgotten, but new beliefs are born. The faith of the villages is dust now... but it will grow again... like the trees.

  Chief Joseph

  Native American, Dust, Tree

  119 Copy quote