Tribal Wisdom

 

Holy Man of the Blackfoot", by Howard Terpning

Holy Man of the Blackfoot”, by Howard Terpning

1. “Don’t be afraid to cry. It will free your mind of sorrowful thoughts.” Hopi
2.“It is better to have less thunder in the mouth and more lightning in the hand.” – Apache
3. “All plants are our brothers and sisters. They talk to us and if we listen, we can hear them.”
– Arapaho
4. “Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I’ll understand.”
– Tribe Unknown
5. “When we show our respect for other living things, they respond with respect for us.” – Arapaho
6. “Those that lie down with dogs, get up with fleas.” – Blackfoot
7. “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
8. “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
9. “Those who have one foot in the canoe, and one foot in the boat, are going to fall into the river.”
– Tuscarora
10. “Our first teacher is our own heart.” – Cheyenne
11. “Remember that your children are not your own, but are lent to you by the Creator.” – Mohawk
12. “Man’s law changes with his understanding of man. Only the laws of the spirit remain always the same.” – Crow
13. “There is no death, only a change of worlds.” – Duwamish
14. “You can’t wake a person who is pretending to be asleep.” – Navajo
15. “All dreams spin out from the same web.” – Hopi
16. “When a man moves away from nature his heart becomes hard.” – Lakota
17. “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.” – Tribe Unknown
18. “Walk lightly in the spring; Mother Earth is pregnant.” – Kiowa
19. “Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past, Wisdom is of the future.” – Lumbee
20. “If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies in yourself.” – Minquass
21. “The frog does not drink up the pond in which he lives.” – Sioux

Posted by | Paul Reynolds

“Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu, Buddhist, Sufi, or Zen. Not any religion or cultural system…..” - Rumi

For over 30 years Paul Reynolds has collected and shared inspiration from a wide variety of sources. Embracing the philosophy that at the core of all these expressions is the reminder that we are loved and supported every moment. This unending stream of inspiration, imagination and wisdom is posted via his weekly ‘Living the Question Blog’, which has become ‘home’ for those discoveries. If you would like to receive the readings and share them with those you feel will benefit, please fill out the ‘Subscribe’ form to the right and Paul’s selections will come to your email every Friday.

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