Wanduta (Red Arrow), from the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, in the Oak Lake area, Manitoba, ca. 1913
The wisdom of the native American Indians is timeless and powerful enough to transform human consciousness, so that we (individually and collectively) can lead a peaceful, close-to-nature, compassionate life.
Below are 28 hand-picked Native American Indian quotes on life and death. May they open your mind and heart wide.
1. “Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark.” – Cheyenne
2. “Don’t be afraid to cry. It will free your mind of sorrowful thoughts.” – Hopi
3. “Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I’ll understand.” – Tribe Unknown
4. “It is better to have less thunder in the mouth and more lightning in the hand.” – Apache
5. “They are not dead who live in the hearts they leave behind.” – Tuscarora
6. “All plants are our brothers and sisters. They talk to us and if we listen, we can hear them.” – Arapaho
7. “A brave man dies but once, a coward many times.” – Iowa
8. “When we show our respect for other living things, they respond with respect for us.” – Arapaho
9. “If we wonder often, the gift of knowledge will come.” – Arapaho
10. “Most of us do not look as handsome to others as we do to ourselves.” – Assiniboine
11. “You can’t wake a person who is pretending to be asleep.” – Navajo
12. “When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.” – Cherokee
13. “Those who have one foot in the canoe, and one foot in the boat, are going to fall into the river.” – Tuscarora
14. “The weakness of the enemy makes our strength.” – Cherokee
15. “When the white man discovered this country, Indians were running it. No taxes, no debt, women did all the work. White man thought he could improve on a system like this.” – Cherokee
16. “When a man moves away from nature his heart becomes hard.” – Lakota
17. “We will be known forever by the tracks we leave.” – Dakota
18. “Do not judge your neighbor until you walk two moons in his moccasins.” – Cheyenne
19. “There is nothing as eloquent as a rattlesnake’s tail.” – Navajo
20. “Force, no matter how concealed, begets resistance.” – Lakota
21. “Our first teacher is our own heart.” – Cheyenne
22. “Everyone who is successful must have dreamed of something.” – Maricopa
23. “All who have died are equal.” – Comanche
24. “What the people believe is true.” – Anishinabe
25. “What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.” – Blackfoot
26. “If a man is as wise as a serpent, he can afford to be as harmless as a dove.” – Cheyenne
“All life is a circle. The atom is a circle, orbits are circles, the earth, moon, and sun are circles. The seasons are circles. The cycle of life is a circle: baby, youth, adult, elder. The sun gives life to the earth who feeds life to the trees whose seeds fall to the earth to grow new trees. We need to practice seeing the cycles that the Great Spirit gave us because this will help us more in our understanding of how things operate. We need to respect these cycles and live in harmony with them.”
A saved relationship can be just as important as a saved life. A reader calling herself Smigenk relates how a little "miracle" might have rescued her troubled marriage. A few years ago, she was making every effort to mend her rocky relationship with her husband and set up a long romantic weekend in Bermuda. Then things started to go wrong, and it seemed her plans were ruined... until "fate" intervened:
"My husband grudgingly agreed to go, but was concerned with the short time between our connecting flights," Smigenk says. "We thought things were going well going into Philly, but there had been some bad weather and the planes were backed up; hence, we were put in a holding pattern and landed just as our connecting flight to Bermuda was due to board. We rushed through the airport, only to arrive at the check-in desk as the gate door was closing. I was devastated and my husband was not in a good mood.
We asked for new flights but were told that it would take two more flights and about 10 more hours to arrive. My husband said, 'That's it. I'm not putting up with this anymore,' and started to walk out of the area and -- I just knew -- out of the marriage. I was truly devastated. As my husband was walking away, the attendant saw on the counter (and I swear it had not been there when we checked in) a packet. She was obviously upset that it was still there. It turned out to be the landing papers packet that the pilot must have on board to land in a different country. She quickly called the plane to return. The plane had been on the runway ready to start powering up the engines. It returned to the gate for the papers and they allowed us (and others) to get on.
Our time in Bermuda was wonderful and we resolved to work on our problems. Our marriage has gone through more rough times, but we both have never forgotten that incident in the airport when I felt as if my world had collapsed and was given a miracle that helped us keep a marriage and a family together."
When someone opens up to you, it means they trust you and value the relationship. You can return the favor by appreciating and showing that you’re listening....
Have a Beautiful and Gorgeous New Week, with love, ♥ Nancy ♥
The Wolves Within (The Battle Between Two Wolves Inside People)
“The hardest battle you will ever have to fight is between who you are now and who you want to be.” — Anonymous
I was reading my Grimm Fairy Tales the other day, and it opened with a great little story.
It’s a story about the battle between two wolves inside people.
I had heard it before, but it’s been a long time, and it’s a useful insight that you can apply to your habits, your thoughts, or anything really that you want to change.
It goes like this …
A grandfather sat his grandson down to tell him a story.
“Grandson, there is a battle going on inside me. It is a battle between two wolves.”
“These two wolves are battling for control of my very soul. One wolf is evil and filled with darkness and despair. The other is good and pure and filled with hope.”
“It is a battle that has gone on a good span of my life,” he continued.
Then the grandfather looked down at the boy and said:
“That same battle is going on inside you. And, as the battle between those two wolves rages inside me, do does it rage inside you.”
The boy looks up at his grandfather and asks:
“But grandfather, if this is true, which wolf will win?”
