Native American Proverbs and Wisdom

Don't be afraid to cry. It will free your mind of sorrowful thoughts. - Hopi

It is better to have less thunder in the mouth and more lightning in the hand. - Apache

They are not dead who live in the hearts they leave behind. - Tuscarora

All plants are our brothers and sisters. They talk to us and if we listen, we can hear them. - Arapaho

Tell me and I'll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I'll understand. - Tribe Unknown.

When we show our respect for other living things, they respond with respect for us. - Arapaho

If we wonder often, the gift of knowledge will come. - Arapaho

Most of us do not look as handsome to others as we do to ourselves. - Assiniboine

Those that lie down with dogs, get up with fleas. - Blackfoot

We always return to our first loves. - Tribe Unknown

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

Those who have one foot in the canoe, and one foot in the boat, are going to fall into the river. - Tuscarora

The weakness of the enemy makes our strength. - Cherokee

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

Poverty is a noose that strangles humility and breeds disrespect for God and man. - Sioux

We will be known forever by the tracks we leave. - Dakota

Do not judge your neighbor until you walk two moons in his moccasins. - Cheyenne

Force, no matter how concealed, begets resistance. - Lakota

Our first teacher is our own heart. - Cheyenne

Everyone who is successful must have dreamed of something. - Maricopa

All who have died are equal. - Comanche

Remember that your children are not your own, but are lent to you by the Creator. - Mohawk

Man's law changes with his understanding of man. Only the laws of the spirit remain always the same. - Crow

What the people believe is true. - Anishinabe

You already possess everything necessary to become great. - Crow

It is less of a problem to be poor, than to be dishonest. - Anishinabe

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

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

The rainbow is a sign from Him who is in all things. - Hopi

When a man moves away from nature his heart becomes hard. - Lakota