White men have too many chiefs.
—American Indian Proverb
A proverb is the child of experience.
—English Proverb
Never sit while your seniors stand.
—American Indian Proverb
Ask questions from you heart and you will be answered from the heart.
—American Indian Proverb
A man must make his own arrows.
—American Indian Proverb
Walk tall as the trees,
live strong as the mountains,
be gentle as the spring winds,
keep the warmth of the summer sun
in your heart, and the great spirit
will always be with you.
—American Indian Proverb
Each person is his own judge.
—American Indian Proverb
God gives us each a song.
—American Indian Proverb
Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark.
—American Indian Proverb
The way of the troublemaker is thorny.
—American Indian Proverb
Sharing and giving are the ways of God.
—American Indian Proverb
Work hard, keep the ceremonies, live peaceably, and unite your hearts.
—American Indian Proverb
To touch the earth is to have harmony with nature.
—American Indian Proverb
A proverb is not a proverb to you until life has illustrated it.
—John Keats (1795–1821) English Poet
Maxims and aphorisms, let us remember that wisdom is the true salt of literature, and the books that are most nourishing are richly stored with it, and that is the main object to seek in reading books.
—John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn (1838–1923) British Political Leader, Writer, Editor, Journalist
We are all one child spinning through Mother Sky.
—American Indian Proverb
One finger cannot lift a pebble.
—American Indian Proverb
A good chief gives, he does not take.
—American Indian Proverb
An epigram is a flashlight of a truth; a witticism, truth laughing at itself.
—Minna Antrim (1861–1950) American Writer, Epigrammist
Most of our pocket wisdom is conceived for the use of mediocre people, to discourage them from ambitious attempts, and generally console them in their mediocrity.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
Take only what you need and leave the land as you found it.
—American Indian Proverb
Most of us do not look as handsome to others as we do to ourselves.
—American Indian Proverb
Never let yesterday use up too much of today.
—Will Rogers (1879–1935) American Actor, Rancher, Humorist
Proverbs are always platitudes until you have personally experienced the truth of them.
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Essayist, Short Story Writer, Satirist
Each bird loves to hear himself sing.
—American Indian Proverb
Poverty is a noose that strangles humility and breeds disrespect for God and man.
—American Indian Proverb
What the people believe is true.
—American Indian Proverb
Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.
—American Indian Proverb
The genius, wit, and spirit of a nation are discovered in its proverbs.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
Do not wrong or hate your neighbor for it is not he that you wrong but yourself.
—American Indian Proverb
All plants are our brothers and sisters. They talk to us and if we listen, we can hear them.
—American Indian Proverb
There are aphorisms that, like airplanes, stay up only while they are in motion.
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) Russian-born American Novelist
When a man moves away from nature his heart becomes hard.
—American Indian Proverb
The coward shoots with shut eyes.
—American Indian Proverb
Knowledge that is not used is abused.
—American Indian Proverb
…the story of a man who saw three fellows laying bricks at a new building:
He approached the first and asked, What are you doing?
Clearly irritated, the first man responded, What the heck do you think I’m doing? I’m laying these darn bricks!
He then walked over to the second bricklayer and asked the same question.
The second fellow responded, Oh, I’m making a living.
He approached the third bricklayer with the same question, What are you doing?
The third looked up, smiled and said, I’m building a cathedral.
At the end of the day, who feels better about how he’s spent his last eight hours?
—Joan Borysenko
No answer is also an answer.
—American Indian Proverb
He who would do great things should not attempt them all alone.
—American Indian Proverb
Precepts or maxims are of great weight; and a few useful ones at hand do more toward a happy life than whole volumes that we know not where to find.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
We are made from Mother Earth and we go back to Mother Earth.
—American Indian Proverb
A brave man dies but once, a coward many times.
—American Indian Proverb
Respect the gift and the giver.
—American Indian Proverb
The Republicans stroke platitudes until they purr like epigrams.
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–65) American Diplomat, Politician, Orator
Old age is not as honorable as death, but most people want it.
—American Indian Proverb
Those that lie down with dogs, get up with fleas.
—American Indian Proverb
Treachery darkens the chain of friendship, but truth makes it brighter than ever.
—American Indian Proverb
Many have fallen with the bottle in their hand.
—American Indian Proverb
It is the nature of aphoristic thinking to be always in a state of concluding; a bid to have the final word is inherent in all powerful phrase-making.
—Susan Sontag (1933–2004) American Writer, Philosopher
Proverbs are short sentences drawn from long experience.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish Novelist
The moon is not shamed by the barking of dogs.
—American Indian Proverb