Perhaps you have noticed that even in the very lightest breeze you can hear the voice of the cottonwood tree; this we understand is its prayer to the Great Spirit, for not only men, but all things and all beings pray to Him continually in differing ways.
BLACK ELKWe should understand that the Great Spirit is also above all these things and peoples.
More Black Elk Quotes
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Let every step you take upon the earth be as a prayer.
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You remember that my great vision came to me when I was only nine years old, and you have seen that I was not much good for anything until after I had performed the horse dance near the mouth of the Tongue River during my eighteenth summer.
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There can never be peace between nations until there is first known that true peace which is within the souls of men.
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Everything tries to be round.
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Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were.
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I had a vision with which I might have saved my people, but I had not the strength to do it.
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But if the Vision was true and mighty, as I know, it is true and mighty yet;for such things are of Spirit, and it is in the darkness of their eyes that men get lost.
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Out of the Indian approach to life there came a great freedom, an intense and absorbing respect for life, enriching faith in a Supreme Power, and principles of truth, honesty, generosity, equity, and brotherhood as a guide to mundane relations.
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And I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all children of one mother and one father. And I saw that it was holy.
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A good nation I will make live.This the nation above has said.They have given me the power to make over.
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Sometimes dreams are wiser than waking.
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Know the Power that is Peace.
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Grandfather, Great Spirit, once more behold me on earth and lean to hear my feeble voice.
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It is good to have a reminder of death before us, for it helps us to understand the impermanence of life on this earth, and this understanding may aid us in preparing for our own death.
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When we do understand all this deeply in our hearts, then we will fear, and love, and know the Great Spirit, and then we will be and act and live as the Spirit intends.
BLACK ELK







