Indian Wisdom Quotes

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

Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children.

I am a red man. If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place.

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.

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

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

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

All things share the same breath – the beast, the tree, the man… the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.

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.

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.

We learned to be patient observers like the owl. We learned cleverness from the crow, and courage from the jay, who will attack an owl ten times its size to drive it off its territory. But above all of them ranked the chickadee because of its indomitable spirit.

Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.

We do not want churches. They will teach us to quarrel about God.

Now that we are poor, we are free. No white man controls our footsteps.

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

He who would do great things should not attempt them all alone.

The power of the world always works in circles.

We were contented to let things remain as the Great Spirit Chief made them. They were not; and would change the rivers and mountains if they did not suit them.

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.

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.

Like the grasses showing tender faces to each other, thus should we do, for this was the wish of the Grandfathers of the World.

I am poor and naked, but I am the chief of the nation. We do not want riches but we do want to train our children right. Riches would do us no good. We could not take them with us to the other world. We do not want riches. We want peace and love.

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 nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours.

When the Earth is sick, the animals will begin to disappear, when that happens, The Warriors of the Rainbow will come to save them.

Build what you want to see in the world.

I hope the Great Heavenly Father, who will look down upon us, will give all the tribes his blessing, that we may go forth in peace, and live in peace all our days, and that He will look down upon our children and finally lift us far above this earth.

Grown men may learn from very little children, for the hearts of little children are pure, and, therefore, the Great Spirit may show to them many things which older people miss.

The mystic and the physicist arrive at the same conclusion; one starting from the inner realm, the other from the outer world. The harmony between their views confirms the ancient Indian wisdom that Brahman, the ultimate reality without, is identical to Atman, the reality within.

Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a person is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves.

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

The earth was created by the assistance of the sun, and it should be left as it was. The country was made without lines of demarcation, and it is no man’s business to divide it.

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

Where no one intrudes, many can live in harmony.

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.

Be the compromise you want to see in the world.

The voice of the Great Spirit is heard in the twittering of birds, the rippling of mighty waters, and the sweet breathing of flowers.

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.

From where the sun now stands I will fight no more.

We know our lands have now become more valuable. The white people think we do not know their value; but we know that the land is everlasting, and the few goods we receive for it are soon worn out and gone.

Children must early learn the the beauty of generosity. They are taught to give what they prize most, that they may taste the happiness of giving.

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

Each man is good in His sight. It is not necessary for eagles to be crows.

It does not require many words to speak the truth.

Man’s heart away from nature becomes hard.