Chief Seattle Quotes

Quotes about:

Animals Brothers Children Earth Ecology Elders Environment

The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

Chief Seattle

Life, Travel, Men

Chief Seattle, “This we know”

232 Copy quote
We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children

Chief Seattle

Motivational, Wisdom, Peace

278 Copy quote
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realise that we can not eat money.

Chief Seattle

Rivers, Tree, Lasts

269 Copy quote
Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth. This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. One thing we know: our god is also your god. The earth is precious to him and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its creator.

Chief Seattle

Mother, Children, Son

270 Copy quote
Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.

Chief Seattle

Life, Lonely, Nature

197 Copy quote
How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? Every part of the Earth is sacred to my people, every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clear and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people.

Chief Seattle

Brother, Horse, Memories

"Flow: For Love of Water". Documentary, www.imdb.com. 2008.

186 Copy quote
If all the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to the man. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth.

Chief Seattle

Loneliness, Son, Animal

188 Copy quote
Earth does not belong to us; we belong to earth. Take only memories, leave nothing but footprints.

Chief Seattle

Memories, Native American, Doe

132 Copy quote
We are all children of the Great Spirit, we all belong to Mother Earth. Our planet is in great trouble and if we keep carrying old grudges and do not work together, we will all die.

Chief Seattle

Mother, Children, Working Together

119 Copy quote
There is no death, only a change of worlds.

Chief Seattle

Change, Sympathy, Native American

Albert Furtwangler, Chief Seattle (1997). “Answering Chief Seattle”, p.25, University of Washington Press

133 Copy quote
The whites, too, shall pass - perhaps sooner than other tribes. Continue to contaminate your bed and you will one night suffocate in your own waste.

Chief Seattle

Native American, Bed, Might

"Rede eines Indianers: "könnt ihr denn mit der Erde tun was ihr wollt?"".

103 Copy quote
You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of your grandfathers. So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin. Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.

Chief Seattle

Mother, Respect, Children

Seattle (Chief) (1976). “Chief Seattle's Testimony”

100 Copy quote
All things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man... the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.

Chief Seattle

Native American, Men, Air

Seattle (Chief) (1976). “Chief Seattle's Testimony”

93 Copy quote
All creation is one. What we do to one, we do to the entire web of life.

Chief Seattle

Web Of Life, Creation

11 Copy quote
We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumes flowers are our sisters; the deer, the horse, the great eagle: these are our brothers. All things are connected like the blood which unites one's family.

Chief Seattle

Brother, Horse, Flower

43 Copy quote
This We Know. All Things Are Connected

Chief Seattle

Wilderness, Connected, All Things

Seattle (Chief), Susan Jeffers (1991). “Brother eagle, sister sky: a message from Chief Seattle”, Dial Books for Young Readers

16 Copy quote
To harm the earth is to heap contempt on its creator.

Chief Seattle

Web Of Life, Earth, Harm

Seattle (Chief), Johhny Mohawk (1984*). “Rede eines Indianers: "könnt ihr denn mit der Erde tun was ihr wollt?"”

10 Copy quote
Man belongs to the Earth, Earth does not belong to man

Chief Seattle

Men, Doe, Earth

Chief Seattle, “This we know”

10 Copy quote
When the Earth is sick, the animals will begin to disappear, when that happens, The Warriors of the Rainbow will come to save them.

Chief Seattle

Inspirational, Life, Native American

60 Copy quote
How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? Every part of the earth is sacred to my people.

Chief Seattle

Nature, Air, Land

Seattle (Chief) (1976). “Chief Seattle's Testimony”

44 Copy quote
There is no quiet place in the white man's cities. No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in spring, or the rustle of an insect's wings. But perhaps it is because I am a savage and do not understand. The clatter only seems to insult the ears.

Chief Seattle

Spring, Men, White Man

Seattle (Chief) (1976). “Chief Seattle's Testimony”

41 Copy quote
Your God loves your people and hates mine; he folds his strong arms lovingly around the white man and leads him as a father leads his infant son, but he has forsaken his red children; he makes your people wax strong every day, and soon they will fill the land; while my people are ebbing away like a fast-receding tide, that will never flow again. The white man's God cannot love his red children or he would protect them. They seem to be orphans who can look nowhere for help.

Chief Seattle

Strong, Children, Father

Albert Furtwangler, Chief Seattle (1997). “Answering Chief Seattle”, p.62, University of Washington Press

7 Copy quote
Man does not weave this web of life. He is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

Chief Seattle

Inspiring, Courage, Nature

Chief Seattle, “This we know”

57 Copy quote
We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on.

Chief Seattle

Brother, Moving, Night

Seattle (Chief) (1976). “Chief Seattle's Testimony”

65 Copy quote
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.

Chief Seattle

Dream, Native American, Heart

11 Copy quote

You May Also Like:

Franklin Pierce

Edward S. Curtis

Laozi

Black Elk

Chief Seattle

Follow

Born: 1780
Died: June 7, 1866
Cite this Page: Citation

Popular Topics