What is man without the beasts? For if all the beast were gone, man would die of a great loneliness of the spirit.
Chief SeattleRead
Our religion is the traditions of our ancestors - the dreams of our old men, given them in solemn hours of the night by the Great Spirit; and the visions of our sachems, and is written in the hearts of our people.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of ancestral traditions and spiritual wisdom passed down through generations.
Chief Seattle highlights the significance of cultural and spiritual inheritance in shaping individual and collective identity. He suggests that the essence of a community's belief system is rooted in the dreams and visions of their ancestors, signifying a deep connection to history and the natural world. This underscores the idea that our values and understanding of the universe are influenced by those who came before us, connecting the past with the present.
Themes
TraditionAncestorsSpiritualityIdentityWisdom
In practice
Example use cases
During a cultural celebration, this quote can be used to emphasize the importance of heritage.
More from Chief Seattle
All quotes →We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children
Chief SeattleRead
Let him be just and deal kindly with my people, for the dead are not powerless. Dead, did I say? There is no death, only change of worlds.
Chief SeattleRead
All things are connected, like the blood that runs in your family "The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father." 1854 The rivers are our brothers. They quench our thirst. They carry our canoes and feed our children. You must give to the rivers the kindness you would give to any brother.
Chief SeattleRead
Revenge by young men is considered gain, even at the cost of their own lives, but old men who stay at home in times of war, and mothers who have sons to lose, know better.
Chief SeattleRead
The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of the pond, the smell of the wind itself cleansed by a midday rain, or scented with pinon pine. The air is precious to the red man, for all things are the same breath - the animals, the trees, the man.
Chief SeattleRead
Similar quotes
Seeking out causes is a pastime of the mind. There is no duality of cause and effect. Everything is its own cause.
Sri Nisargadatta MaharajRead
There is massive propaganda for everyone to consume. Consumption is good for profits and consumption is good for the political establishment.
Noam ChomskyRead
Ayn Rand's 'philosophy' is nearly perfect in its immorality, which makes the size of her audience all the more ominous and symptomatic as we enter a curious new phase in our society.... To justify and extol human greed and egotism is to my mind not only immoral, but evil.
Gore VidalRead
He even knew the reason why: because enough men had gone off to war saying the time for gardening was when the war was over; whereas there must be men to stay behind and keep gardening alive, or at least the idea of gardening; because once that cord was broken, the earth would grow hard and forget her children. That was why.
J. M. CoetzeeRead
Complete adaptation to environment means death. The essential point in all response is the desire to control environment.
John DeweyRead
Life in general has never been even close to fair, so the pretense that the government can make it fair is a valuable and inexhaustible asset to politicians who want to expand government.
Thomas SowellRead