Sabedoria dos Índios

Eating little and speaking little can hurt no man.

— Hopi proverb

Never interfere in a person's decisions

about what he will do with his possessions.

— Hopi proverb

Tuscarora words are the voice of the heart.

— Tuscarora proverb

Do not allow anger to poison you.

— Hopi proverb

Misfortune happens even to the wisest and best men.

— Omaha Tribe proverb

❖

Thoughts are like arrows: once released they strike their mark.

Guard them well or you may be your own victim.

— Navajo (Diné) proverb

Creation is continuous.

— Lakota Sioux proverb

Love one another and do not strive for another's undoing.

— Seneca proverb

There is a need for obedience all around us.

— Sauk proverb

Ask questions from your heart and

you will be answered from the heart.

— Omaha proverb

❖

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

— Blackfoot proverb

The man who preserves his selfhood is ever calm

and unshaken by the storms of existence.

— Oglala proverb

Be self-loving — go outside yourself and take action.

Be peaceful, and stay focused on the solution.

— Lakota proverb

Most of us do not look as handsome

to others as we do to ourselves.

— Assiniboine proverb

To go on a vision quest is to go into

the presence of the great mystery.

— Lakota proverb

❖

Death is nothing, pain is nothing, but

cowardice is crime and disgrace

— the greatest punishment.

— Dakota proverb

Man's law changes with new understanding.

The laws of the spirit never needs to change.

— Crow proverb

There are many ways to God.

— Arapaho proverb

Death always comes out of season.

— Pawnee proverb

Many children, many homes.

— Lakota proverb

❖

There are many good moccasin tracks

along the trail of a straight arrow.

— Fox proverb

Deeds speak louder than words.

— Assiniboine proverb

Many have fallen with the bottle in their hand.

— Lakota proverb

They are not dead who live in

the hearts they leave behind.

— Tuscarora proverb

Do not wrong or hate your neighbor

for it is not he that you wrong but yourself.

— Pima proverb

❖

Many people are smart but few are wise.

— Shoshone proverb

Those who have one foot in the canoe and

one foot in the boat are going to fall into the river.

— Tuscarora proverb

Do not be envious of a gift that is cheerfully given.

— Omaha proverb

Everything has a beginning.

— Kiowa proverb

One foe is too many and a hundred friends too few.

— Hopi proverb

❖

We are friends; we must assist each other to bear our burdens.

— Osage proverb

Even a small mouse has anger.

— Lakota proverb

Never sleep while your meat is cooking on the fire.

— Pueblo proverb

Walk lightly in the spring;

Mother Earth is pregnant.

— Kiowa proverb

Do you not speak of evil for it creates

curiosity in the hearts of the young.

— Lakota proverb

❖

Misfortunes do not flourish on one path, they grow everywhere.

— Pawnee proverb

To gossip is like playing checkers with an evil spirit:

you win occasionally, but you are more

often trapped at your own game.

— Hopi proverb

Creation is ongoing.

— Lakota proverb

Make my enemy brave and strong,

so if I'm defeated, I will not be ashamed.

— Plains Indians proverb

There are many paths to a meaningful

sense of the natural world.

— Blackfoot proverb

❖

Day and night cannot dwell together.

— Duwamish proverb

No river can return to its source,

yet all rivers must have a beginning.

— Pawnee proverb

We should be as water, which is lower

than all things yet stronger even than the rocks.

— Oglala proverb

Don't judge with the eyes— use the heart instead.

— Cheyenne proverb

Mother Nature is always there to watch and care for her own.

— Kiowa proverb

❖

Touching the earth equates to having harmony with nature.

— Lakota proverb

Don't allow yesterday to spend up too much of today.

— Cherokee proverb

My words are tied with my body and my heart.

All of you see me, one with this world.

— Yokuts chant

Treachery darkens the chain of friendship,

but truth makes it brighter than ever.

— Susquehannock proverb

Dreams count; the Spirits have pitied us and guided us.

— Cree proverb

❖❖❖

Never see an old person going to carry water without

getting a bucket and going in their stead.

— Twana proverb

Trouble follows sin as surely as fever follows chill.

— Hopi proverb

Dreams are wiser than men.

— Omaha proverb

Never sit while your seniors stand.

— Cree proverb

Trouble no man about his religion — respect him in his views

and demand that he respects you.

— Shawnee proverb

❖

Each person is his own judge.

— Shawnee proverb

May all my people find peace when they come in,

and leave with it when they go out.

— Comanche proverb

There is no death, only a change of worlds.

— Duwamish proverb

God teaches the birds to make nests,

yet the nests of all birds are not alike.

— Duwamish proverb

Poverty of heart is a noose that strangles humility

and breeds disrespect for man and nature.

— Dakota Sioux proverb

❖

When there is true hospitality, few words are needed.

— Arapaho proverb

Everything the Power does, it does in a circle.

— Lakota proverb

One rain does not make a crop.

— Cree proverb

We give back thanks to our mother,

the earth that sustains us.

— Onondaga proverb

Even your silence holds a sort of prayer.

— Apache proverb

❖

Never part from the chiefs' path, no matter how

short or beautiful the byway may be.

— Seneca proverb

Watch out for the man who says

nothing and the dog who does not bark.

— Cheyenne proverb

Do not judge your neighbor until

you walk two moons in his moccasins.

— Northern Cheyenne proverb

Misfortunes will happen to the

wisest and best of men.

— Pawnee proverb

To touch the earth is to have harmony with nature.

— Oglala proverb

❖

Don't be afraid to cry. It will free your

mind of sorrowful thoughts.

— Hopi proverb

One finger cannot lift a pebble.

— Hopi proverb

What is life? It is the little shadow which runs

across the grass and loses itself in the sunset?

— Blackfoot proverb

Even when we lay down, we lay down

on our own path of life.

— Pawnee proverb

No answer is also an answer.

— Hopi proverb

❖

We give thanks back to the Sun that has looked

upon the Earth with beneficial eyes.

— Onondaga proverb

Every bird loves to hear himself sing.

— Arapaho proverb

Not every sweet root gives birth to sweet grass.

— Pawnee proverb

We always return to our first loves.

— Umpqua proverb

Every fire is the same size when it begins.

— Seneca proverb

❖

Not all danger comes with a warning.

— Cheyenne proverb

We are all one child spinning through Mother Sky.

— Shawnee proverb

Every animal knows more than you do.

— Nez Perce proverb

Not westward, but eastward

seek the coming of the light.

— Dakota proverb

We are all given our own song to sing.

— Ute proverb

❖

Everyone who is successful must

have dreamed of something.

— Maricopa (Piipaash) proverb

Never get involved in someone's

decisions about his belongings.

— Hopi proverb

Those who do not honor the ways

of the Great Spirit, are not strong.

— Seneca proverb

I add my breath to your breath that we shall be as one people.

— Pueblo proverb

Show respect for all men, but grovel to none.

— Shawnee proverb

❖

White men have too many chiefs.

— Nez Perce proverb

God is pleased to hear children pray.

— Osage proverb

Pray to understand what man has forgotten.

— Lumbee proverb

When you have learned about love, you have learned about God.

— Fox proverb

Everything has form, power, and inner meaning.

— Hopi proverb

❖

One must learn from the bite of the fire to leave it alone.

— Teton Sioux proverb

What the people believe (perceive) is true is true.

— Anishinabe proverb

Even in Paradise, live all alone would be Hell.

— Seneca proverb

No one else can represent your conscience.

— Anishinabe proverb

We will be known forever by the tracks we leave.

— Dakota proverb

❖❖❖

Even animals have their taboos.

— Plains Indian proverb

Respect everyone, but lower yourself to no one.

— Shawnee proverb

When you die, you will be spoken of as

those in the sky, like the stars.

— Yurok proverb

Friendship cannot be bought; you have to help make it.

— Sauk proverb

Only two relationships are possible —

to be a friend or to be an enemy.

— Cree proverb

❖

When you lose the rhythm of Mother Earth,

you are lost from the rhythm of life.

— Cheyenne proverb

Friendship is held to be the severest test of character.

— Dakota proverb

Our pleasures are shollow, our sorrows are deep.

— Cheyenne proverb

When a man prays one day and steals six,

the Great Spirit thunders and the Evil One laughs.

— Oklahoma proverb

Frogs don't drink up all the water in the ponds they live in.

— Oglala proverb

❖

Our first teacher is our own heart.

— Cheyenne proverb

When the widomkeepers speak, all should listen.

— Seneca proverb

Give your host a little something when you leave;

little presents are little courtesies and never offend.

— Seneca proverb

s People seeking a myth will usually find one.

— Pueblo proverb

When an elder speaks, be silent and listen.

— Mohawk proverb

❖

Give me knowledge, so I may have kindness for all.

— Plains Indians proverb

Old age is not as honorable as death, but most people want it.

— Crow proverb

Truth does not happen, it just is.

— Hopi proverb

If you wonder often, the gift of understanding will come.

— Arapaho proverb

Take your children with you where you go and be not ashamed.

— Hopi proverb

❖

You can't purchase friendship —

you have to do your part to make it.

— Sauk proverb

I am one with the Earth.

— Navajo (Diné) proverb

Silence is the cornerstone of character.

— Lakota proverb

Who serves his fellow man is all the greatness.

— Dakota proverb

Good and evil cannot dwell together in the same heart,

so a good man ought not to go into evil company.

— Delaware proverb

❖

Regard Heaven as your Father, Earth as your Mother,

and all things as your Brothers and Sisters.

When we show our respect for other living things,

they respond with respect for us.

— Arapaho proverb

Flowers are for our souls to enjoy.

— Lakota proverb

One has to face fear or forever run from it.

— Crow proverb

What is past and cannot be prevented

should not be grieved for.

— Pawnee proverb

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Force, no matter how concealed, begets resistance.

— Lakota proverb

Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.

— Shawnee proverb

When a man moves away from nature his heart becomes hard.

— Lakota proverb

He who is present at a wrongdoing,

and does not lift a hand to prevent it,

is as guilty as the wrongdoers.

— Omaha proverb

Respect the gift and the giver.

— Omaha proverb

❖

When there is true hospitality, no many words are needed.

— Arapaho proverb

He who has great power should use it lightly.

— Seneca proverb

See how the boy is with his sister and you can

know how the man will be with your daughter.

— Plains Indians proverb

When we understand deeply in our hearts,

we will fear and love and know the Great Spirit.

— Oglala Sioux proverb

He who would do great things

should not attempt them all alone.

— Seneca proverb

❖

See how much more beautiful the sun is today, when you are not angry.

— Lakota proverb

When the legends die, the dreams end;

there is no more greatness.

— Shawnee proverb

Hold fast to the words of your ancestors.

— Hopi proverb

Seek wisdom, not knowledge.

Knowledge is of the past.

Wisdom is of the future.

— Lumbee proverb

When you have a talent of any kind,

use it, take care of it, guard it.

— Sauk proverb

❖

How we fought for our country is written in blood.

— Duwamish proverb

People's eyes say words that the tongue cannot pronounce.

— Crow proverb

We are made from Mother Earth

and we go back to Mother Earth.

— Shenandoah proverb

A brave man dies but once — a coward many times.

— Ioway proverb

In age, talk; in childhood, tears.

— Hopi proverb

❖❖❖

The moon is not shamed by the barking of dogs.

— Navajo (Diné) proverb

A Let us continue to honor that

which remains only in dream memory.

— Oneida proverb

If a man is to achieve more than human,

he must have more than human abilities.

— Crow proverb

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

— Arapaho proverb

You already possess everything necessary to become great.

— Crow proverb

❖

I love a people who do not live for the love of money.

— Duwamish proverb

Silence has much meaning.

— Yurok proverb

Wisdom comes only when you stop looking for it

and start living the life intended for you.

— Hopi proverb

Great chiefs prove their worthiness.

— Sencea proverb

Remember that your children are not your own.

They are lent to you by the Creator.

— Mohawk proverb

❖

When you know a man, you know his face but not his heart.

— Seneca proverb

I am standing at the Earth's center.

— Lakota proverb

Teachers not only teach, but they also learn.

— Sauk proverb

With all things and in all things, we are relatives.

— Dakota proverb

I am living in poverty, but in peace.

— Hopi proverb

❖

Sometimes dreams are wiser than waking.

— Oglala proverb

With one foot in the canoe, and one foot on shore,

you are sure to fall into the river.

— Tuscarora proverb

I want no blood upon my land to stain the grass.

— Comanche proverb

Speak the truth in humility to all people.

Only then can you be a true man.

— Lakota proverb

Work hard, keep the ceremonies,

live peaceably, and unite your hearts.

— Hopi proverb

❖

If I am in harmony with my family, that's success.

— Ute proverb

Stand in the light when you want to speak out.

— Crow proverb

You must always be careful with something

that is greater than you are.

— Shoshone proverb

If you continue to contaminate your own home,

you will suffocate in your own waste.

— Lakota proverb

Stolen food never satisfies hunger.

— Omaha proverb

❖

You are never justified in arguing.

— Hopi proverb

If two different bowls both get the job done,

what difference does the color make?

— Hopi proverb

Seek the ways of the eagle, not the wren.

— Omaha proverb

When a fox walks lame, the old rabbit jumps.

— Oklahoma proverb

After dark, all cats are leopards.

— Zuni proverb

❖

It is easy to be brave from a distance.

— Omaha proverb

The man who freely gives his opinion

should be ready to fight fiercely.

— Ioway proverb

A We stand somewhere between

the mountain and the ant.

— Onondaga proverb

Inner peace and love are the greatest of Nature's gifts.

— Lakota proverb

The dead add their strength and counsel to the living.

— Hopi proverb

❖

A See your sons and daughters:

they are your future.

— Oneida proverb

If man is as wise as a serpent,

he can afford to be as harmless as a dove.

— Cheyenne proverb

Talk is given to the people for good.

— Sauk proverb

You should water your children like

you water a tree.

— Hopi proverb

I seek strength, not to be better than my brother,

but to battle my most significant enemy–myself.

— Cheyenne proverb

❖

Sin is not allowed in God's tipi.

— Mohawk proverb

Wishing cannot bring autumn glory

nor cause winter to cease.

— Kiowa proverb

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

— Arapaho proverb

The way of the troublemaker is thorny.

— Umpqua proverb

A sparrow in the bush is better

than a vulture flying.

— Blackfoot proverb

❖

In harmony may I walk.

— Navajo (Diné) Chant

Teaching should come from within,

not from without.

— Hopi proverb

A danger foreseen is half-avoided.

— Cheyenne proverb

In death I am born.

— Hopi proverb

The eyes of men speak words the

tongue cannot pronounce.

— Crow proverb

❖❖❖

❖

A people without a history is

like the wind over buffalo grass.

— Lakota proverb

In this world the unseen has power.

— Apache proverb

The more you ask how far you have to go,

the longer your quest will feel.

— Seneca proverb

A man or woman with many children has many homes.

— Lakota proverb

In twenty-four hours, a louse can become a patriarch.

— Seneca proverb

❖

The ones that matter most are the children.

They are the true human beings.

— Lakota proverb

A hungry stomach makes a short prayer.

— Paiute proverb

In anger a man becomes dangerous

to himself and to others. >— Omaha proverb

Strive to be a person who is never

absent from an important act.

— Osage proverb

When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, strike first.

— Navajo (Diné) proverb

❖

Always remember that a smile is

something sacred, to be shared.

— Cherokee proverb

Let no one speaking ill of the absent.

— Hopi proverb

The good-looking boy may

be just good in the face.

— Apache proverb

All plants are our siblings.

If we listen, we can hear them speaking.

— Arapaho proverb

It is no longer good to cry peace.

We must act peace, live peace, and live in peace.

— Shenandoah proverb

❖

The rain falls on the just and the unjust.

— Hopi proverb

A good man does not take what

belongs to someone else.

— Pueblo proverb

Is it not better for one hundred to pray

for one than for one to pray alone for himself?

— Lakota proverb

The old days will never be again,

even as a man will never again be a child.

— Dakota proverb

A man must make his own arrows.

— Winnebago proverb

❖

If you see no reason for giving thanks,

the fault lies in yourself.

— Minquas, Susquehannock proverb

Talk to your children while they are eating;

what you say will stay even after you are gone.

— Nez Perce proverb

Guard your tongue in youth, and in age you may

mature a thought that will be of service to your people.

— Lakota proverb

It is observed that in any great endeavor,

it is not enough for a person to depend solely on himself.

— Lakota proverb

The morning moisture, the clouds, the bodies of water—

I become part of it.

— Navajo (Diné) proverb

❖

A child believes that only the action of someone

who is unfriendly can cause pain.

— Santee proverb

It is less of a problem to be poor,

than to be dishonest.

— Anishinabe proverb

The wildcat does not make enemies by rash action.

He is observant, quiet, tactful,

and he always gains in the end.

— Pawnee proverb

A community that lacks faith in itself cannot survive.

— Hopi proverb

It is better to have less thunder in the mouth

and more lightning in the hand.

— Apache proverb

❖

The smarter a man is the more he needs God

to protect him from thinking he knows everything.

— Pima proverb

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

— Navajo (Diné) proverb

It is good to tell one's heart.

— Chippewa proverb

The grandfathers and the grandmothers

are in the children; treat them well.

— Ojibwe proverb

A shady lane breeds mud.

— Hopi proverb

❖

It makes no difference as to the name of the God,

since love is the real God of all the world.

— Apache proverb

The only things that need the protection of men

are the things of men, not the things of the spirit.

— Crow proverb

A good chief gives, he does not take.

— Mohawk proverb

It is senseless to fight when

you cannot hope to win.

— Apache proverb

The supreme law of the land is the

Great Spirit's law, not man's law.

— Hopi proverb

❖

You must live your life from beginning to end.

No one else can do it for you.

— Hopi proverb

Cherish youth, but trust old age.

— Pueblo proverb

Look at your own moccasin tracks before

pronouncing someone else's faults.

— Sauk proverb

There is a hole at the end of the thief's path.

— Lakota proverb

An angry word is like striking with a knife.

— Hopi proverb

❖

Let your eyes be offended by sight of

lying and deceitful men.

— Hopi proverb

The weakness of the enemy makes our strength.

— Cherokee proverb

All dreams spin out from the same web.

— Hopi proverb

It takes a thousand voices to tell a single story.

— Crow proverb

The clear sky and the green fruitful Earth are good;

but peace among men is better.

— Omaha proverb

❖❖❖

A good soldier is a poor scout.
— Cheyenne proverb

It is good to be reminded that
each ofus has a different dream.
— Crow proverb

The lazy man is apt to be envious.
— Omaha proverb

All who have died are equal.
— Comanche proverb

A starving man will eat with the wolf.
— Choctaw proverb

❖

Knowledge is rooted in all things — the world is a library.
— Lakota proverb

Life is both giving and receiving.
— Mohawk proverb

The coward shoots with shut eyes.
— Otoe proverb

All around me my land is beauty.
— Navajo (Diné) proverb

Knowledge that is not used is abused.
— Cree proverb

❖

The song is very short because
we understand so much.
— Navajo (Diné) proverb

All things have inner meaning and form and power.
— Hopi proverb

Learn how to talk, then learn how to teach.
— Nez Perce proverb

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

Always assume your guests are tired, cold,
and hungry, and act accordingly.
— Navajo (Diné) proverb

❖

Let your nature be known and expressed.
— Huron proverb

The soul would have no rainbows
if the eyes had no tears.
— Pawnee proverb

Always look at your moccasin tracks first
before you speak of another's faults.
— Sauk proverb

Let us see — is this real,
this life that I am living?
— Pawnee proverb

The mark of shame does not wash away.
— Omaha proverb

❖

Always walk in gratitude to the Mother Earth.
— Pueblo proverb

Let no one say negative things about those who are not present.
— Hopi proverb

The one who tells the stories rules the world.
— Hopi proverb

Do not only point the way, but lead the way.
— Lakota proverb

Men in search of a myth will usually find one.
— Pueblo proverb

❖

Those that lie down with dogs get up with fleas.
— Blackfoot proverb

Coyote is always out there waiting,
and coyote is always hungry.
— Navajo (Diné) proverb

Love yourself; get outside yourself and take action.
Focus on the solution; be at peace.
— Lakota proverb

There is never a valid reason for arguing.
— Hopi proverb

An Indian, a partridge, and a spruce
tree cannot be tamed.
— Cheyenne proverb

❖

Life is the flash of the firefly in the night,
the breath of the buffalo in winter time.
— Blackfoot proverb

The greatest strength is gentleness.
— Iroquois proverb

All children of earth will be welcome at her counsel fires.
— Seneca proverb

Just as you desire good treatment, so render it.
— Seneca proverb

The more you give, the more good things come to you.
— Crow proverb

❖

A spear is a big responsibility.
— Navajo (Diné) proverb

Man has responsibility, not power.
— Tuscarora proverb

There is nothing as eloquent
as a rattlesnake's tail.
— Navajo (Diné) proverb

Be an early riser; the game does not
snuggle their heads on feather pillows.
— Assiniboine proverb

Listen or thy tongue will keep thee deaf.
— Arapaho and Cherokee proverb

❖

There is a right time and place for everything.
— Cherokee proverb

Be satisfied with the needs instead of the wants.
— Lakota proverb

Listen to her — our Earth, our Mother;
listen to what she is saying.
— Mohawk proverb

There is no fear where there is faith.
— Kiowa proverb

Be brave where bravery is honorable.
— Assiniboine proverb

❖

Listen to the voice of nature, for it holds treasures for you.
— Huron proverb

There can never be peace between nations until
it is first known that true peace is within the souls of men.
— Oglala proverb

Be kind to everything that lives.
— Omaha proverb

Listen with your heart. Learn from your experiences,
and always be open to new ones.
— Cherokee proverb

There are no secrets or mysteries—
there is only common sense.
— Onondaga proverb

❖

Before eating, always take a little time to thank the food.
— Arapaho proverb

Listening to a liar is like drinking warm water.
— Blackfoot proverb

The Great Spirit is always angry with
men who shed innocent blood.
— Ioway proverb

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