Let every step you take upon the earth be as a prayer.
BLACK ELKHe who is well prepared is he who knows that he is nothing compared with Wakan-Tanka, who is everything; then he knows that world which is real.
More Black Elk Quotes
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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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The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls.
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I saw more than I can tell / And I understood more than I saw.
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Everywhere is the center of the world. Everything is sacred.
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But I think I have done right to save the vision in this way, even though I may die sooner because I did it; for I know the meaning of the vision is wise and beautiful and good; and you can see that I am only a pitiful old man after all.
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As you walk upon the sacred earth, treat each step as a prayer.
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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.
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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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Know the Power that is Peace.
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Everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the power of the world always works in circles, and everything tries to be round.
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Grown men may learn from very little children, for the hearts of little children are pure, and, therefore, the Great Spirit may show to them many things which older people miss.
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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.
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If I thought that I was doing it myself, the hole would close up and no power could come through. Then everything I could do would be foolish.
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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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The power of a thing or an act is in the meaning and the understanding.
BLACK ELK