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
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
We must instill in our children a deep respect for the earth and our ancestors' legacy.
Chief Seattle emphasizes the importance of respecting the Earth and recognizing our connection to it through our ancestors. He urges that we teach future generations about the richness of the land and the consequences of our actions upon it, as our well-being is intertwined with that of the planet.
Themes
ChildrenEarthRespectAncestorsLegacyNature
In practice
Example use cases
In an environmental education seminar to stress the importance of conservation.
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
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