American Indian Quotes A-Z

A danger foreseen is half-avoided.

Cheyenne

"A good chief gives, he does not take."

 Mohawk

A good soldier is a poor scout. 

Cheyenne

A hungry stomach makes a short prayer. 

Paiute

A man must make his own arrows. 

Winnebago

"A man or woman with many children has many homes.

Lakota Siou 

A people without a history is like the wind over buffalo grass.

Sioux

A rocky vineyard does not need a prayer, but a pick ax.

Navajo

A starving man will eat with the wolf. 

Oklahoma

After dark all cats are leopards. 

Zuni

"All dreams spin out from the same web.

Hopi

All plants are our brothers and sisters. 

They talk to us and if we listen, 

we can hear them. 

Arapaho

"All who have died are equal."

Comanche

Ask questions from you heart 

and you will be answered from the heart.

Omaha

Before eating, always take time to thank the food. 

Arapaho

"Beware of the man who does not talk, 

and the dog that does not bark." 

Cheyenne

Certain things catch your eye, 

But pursue only those that capture your heart. 

old indian saying

Cherish youth, but trust old age. 

Pueblo

"Coyote is always out there waiting, and Coyote is always hungry." 

Navajo

Day and night cannot dwell together. 

Duwamish

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

Cheyenne

Do not wrong or hate your neighbor for it is not he that you wrong but yourself. 

Pima

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

Hopi

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

Cherokee

Each bird loves to hear himself sing. 

Arapaho

Each person is his own judge.

Shawnee

Even a small mouse has anger.

 Tribe Unknown

"Every animal knows more than you do." 

Nez Perce

"Everyone who is successful must have dreamed of something." 

Maricopa

Everything the power does, it does in a circle. 

Lakota

Force, no matter how concealed, begets resistance. 

Lakota

Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way." 

Native American saying

God gives us each a song. 

Ute

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

Seneca

"How smooth must be the language of the whites, 

when they can make right look like wrong, and wrong like right." 

From Black Hawk, Sauk

"I am tired of fighting...

from where the sun now stands, 

I will fight no more." 

Chief Joseph

"If a man is as wise as a serpent, he can afford to be as harmless as a dove."  

Cheyenne

If a man is to do something more than human, he must have more than human powers. 

Tribe Unknown

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

Arapaho

If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies in yourself. 

Minquass

In age, talk; in childhood, tears. 

Hopi

"Is it wrong for me to love my own? 

Is it wicked for me because my skin is red? 

Because I am Sioux? 

Because I was born where my father lived? 

Because I would die for my people and my country? 

God made me an Indian." 

Sitting Bull

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

Apache

"It is easy to be brave from a distance." 

Omaha

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

Anishinabe

It is no longer good enough to cry peace, we must act peace, live peace and live in peace. - Shenandoah

It takes a thousand voices to tell a single story.

Tribe Unknown

"Life is not separate from death. It only looks that way." 

Blackfoot

Listen, or your tongue will make you deaf. 

Tribe Unknown

Listening to a liar is like drinking warm water. 

Tribe Unknown

Make my enemy brave and strong, 

so that if defeated, I will not be ashamed. 

Plains Indians

Man has responsibility, not power. 

Tuscarora

Man's law changes with his understanding of man. 

Only the laws of the spirit remain always the same. 

Crow

Many have fallen with the bottle in their hand.

Lakota

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

Assiniboine

No river can return to its source, 

yet all rivers must have a beginning. 

Tribe Unknown

Not every sweet root gives birth to sweet grass. 

Tribe Unknown

Old age is not as honorable as death, 

but most people want it. 

Crow

One finger cannot lift a pebble. 

Hopi

One rain does not make a crop. 

Creole

Our first teacher is our own heart. 

Cheyenne

Poverty is a noose that strangles humility 

and breeds disrespect for God and man. 

Siou

Regard Heaven as your father, 

Earth as your Mother 

and all things as your 

Brothers and Sisters.  

Tribe Unknown

Remember that your children are not your own, 

but are lent to you by the Creator.  

Mohawk

Seek wisdom, not knowledge. 

Knowledge is of the past, 

Wisdom is of the future. 

Lumbee

Sharing and giving are the ways of God. 

Sauk

Tell me and I'll forget. Show me, 

and I may not remember. 

Involve me, and I'll understand. 

Tribe Unknown

Take only what you need and leave the land as you found it.

Arapaho

The bird who has eaten cannot fly with the bird that is hungry. 

Omaha

The coward shoots with shut eyes. 

Oklahoma

The frog does not drink up the pond in which he lives. 

Sioux

The ground on which we stand is sacred ground. 

It is the dust and blood of our ancestors.! 

Chief Plenty Coups, Crow (1848 - 1932) 

The moon is not shamed by the barking of dogs. 

Southwest

The one who tells the stories rules the world. 

Hopi

The rain falls on the just and the unjust. 

Hopi