Native Quotes - Page 3

• If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place. He put in your heart certain wishes and plans, and in my heart he put other and different desires. It is not necessary for eagles to be crows.

  Sitting Bull

  Native American, Heart, Men

  "I have spoken; American history through the voices of the Indians". Book by Virginia Armstrong, Chicago, Sage Books, 1971.

  215 Copy quote

  Show source

• If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian, he can live in peace. There need be no trouble. Treat all men alike. give them all the same law. Give them all an even chance to live and grow.

  Chief Joseph

  Native American, Men, White

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

  12 Copy quote

  Show source

• When someone was so poor that he couldn't afford a horse, a tent or a blanket,
  he would, in that case, receive it all as a gift.

  John Fire Lame Deer

  Horse, Native American, Tents

  18 Copy quote

• 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

  Show source

• The power of the world always works in circles.

  Black Elk

  Native American, Circles, World

  Black Elk (2000). “Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux”, Bison Books

  17 Copy quote

  Show source

• 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

  Show source

• Birds make their nest in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours.

  Black Elk

  Native American, Circles, Bird

  Black Elk (2000). “Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux”, Bison Books

  9 Copy quote

  Show source

• All things are bound together. All things connect.

  Chief Seattle

  Native American, Web Of Life, Earth Day

  Seattle (Chief) (1980). “How can one sell the air?: the manifesto of an Indian chief”, Book Publishing Company (TN)

  44 Copy quote

  Show source
• 

  I see a time of Seven Generations when all the colors of mankind will gather under the Sacred Tree of Life and the whole earth will become One Circle again.

  Crazy Horse

  Native American, Color, Circles

  292 Copy quote

• The old people came literally to love the soil and they sat or reclined on the ground with a feeling of being close to a mothering power. The soil was soothing, strengthening, cleansing and healing.

  Luther Standing Bear

  Healing, Native American, People

  Luther Standing Bear (2006). “Land of the Spotted Eagle”, p.192, U of Nebraska Press

  38 Copy quote

  Show source

• I saw more than I can tell / And I understood more than I saw.

  Black Elk

  Native American, Circles, Shapes

  Black Elk (2000). “Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux”, Bison Books

  24 Copy quote

  Show source

• [last words] What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night.

  Crowfoot

  Sunset, Native American, Firefly

  "Aging in the Modern World: Selections from the Literature of Aging for Pleasure and Instruction". Book by ‎Clark Tibbitts, p. 222, 1957.

  17 Copy quote

  Show source

• Everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the power of the world always works in circles.

  Black Elk

  Native American, Circles, Doe

  Black Elk (2000). “Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux”, Bison Books

  89 Copy quote

  Show source

• Suppose a white man should come to me and say, "Joseph, I like your horses. I want to buy them." I say to him, "No, my horses suit me; I will not sell them." Then he goes to my neighbor and says to him, "Joseph has some good horses. I want to buy them, but he refuses to sell." My neighbor answers, "Pay me the money and I will sell you Joseph's horses." The white man returns to me and says, "Joseph, I have bought your horses and you must let me have them." If we sold our lands to the government, this is the way they bought them.

  Chief Joseph

  I Like You, Horse, Native American

  Arguing against the right of the US Government to force his people to leave their lands, 1876.

  189 Copy quote

  Show source

• 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

  Show source

• 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

  Show source

• At the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit. And that center is really everywhere. It is within each of us.

  Black Elk

  Peace, Native American, Oneness

  167 Copy quote

• And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being.

  Black Elk

  Inspirational, Native American, Circles

  Black Elk (2000). “Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux”, Bison Books

  23 Copy quote

  Show source
• 

  It does not require many words to speak the truth.

  Chief Joseph

  Truth, Native American, Reality

  225 Copy quote

• All men were made by the Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers.

  Chief Joseph

  Brother, Native American, Reality

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

  24 Copy quote

  Show source

• Let me be a free man - free to travel, free to stop, free to work.

  Chief Joseph

  Travel, Native American, Men

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

  16 Copy quote

  Show source

• 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

  Show source

• If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian he can live in peace.

  Chief Joseph

  Native American, Men, White

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

  9 Copy quote

  Show source

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

  Will Rogers

  Inspirational, Motivational, Moving On

  108 Copy quote

• Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.

  Chief Seattle

  Life, Lonely, Nature

  205 Copy quote