Black Elk Quotes

All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves. All is really One.

Let every step you take upon the earth be as a prayer.

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.

At the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit. And that center is really everywhere. It is within each of us.

Any man who is attached to things of this world is one who lives in ignorance and is being consumed by the snakes of his own passions

One should pay attention to even the smallest crawling creature for these too may have a valuable lesson to teach us.

May you always walk in Beauty.

Sometimes dreams are wiser than waking.

Behold this day. It is yours to make.

Peace will come to the hearts of men when they realize their oneness with the universe, It is every where.

To use the power of the bison, I had to perform that part of my vision for the people to see.

Everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the power of the world always works in circles.

They told me I had been sick twelve days, lying like dead all the while, and that Whirlwind Chaser, who was Standing Bear's uncle and a medicine man, had brought me back to life.

All over the sky a sacred voice is calling your name.

It is hard to follow one great vision in this world of darkness and of many changing shadows. Among those men get lost.

And as he spoke of understanding, I looked up and saw the rainbow leap with flames of many colors over me.

The center of the universe is everywhere.

There can never be peace between nations until there is first known that true peace which is within the souls of men.

You see, I had been riding with the storm clouds, and had come to earth as rain, and it was drought that I had killed with the power that the Six Grandfathers gave me.

And when I breathed, my breath was lightning.

It is not enough to have a vision. In order to have its power, you must enact your vision on earth for all to see. Only then do you have the power.

The Great Spirit is everywhere; He hears whatever is in our minds and our hearts, and it is not necessary to speak to Him in a loud voice.

Everywhere is the center of the world. Everything is sacred.

As you walk upon the sacred earth, treat each step as a prayer.

Everything the Power of the World does is done in a circle.

The boys of my people began very young to learn the ways of men, and no one taught us; we just learned by doing what we saw, and we were warriors at a time when boys now are like girls.

Grandfather, Great Spirit, once more behold me on earth and lean to hear my feeble voice.

It's in the darkness of men's eyes that they get lost.

I saw more than I can tell / And I understood more than I saw.

Like the grasses showing tender faces to each other, thus should we do, for this was the wish of the Grandfathers of the World.

The Holy Land is everywhere.

I was four years old then, and I think it must have been the next summer that I first heard the voices.

Know the Power that is Peace.

The power of a thing or an act is in the meaning and the understanding.

Every place is the center of the world.

The power of the world always works in circles.

It may be that some little root of the sacred tree still lives. Nourish it then, that it may leaf and bloom and fill with singing birds.

When you pray with this pipe, you pray for and with everything.

Everything tries to be round.

Birds make their nest in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours.

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.

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.

I had a vision with which I might have saved my people, but I had not the strength to do it.

Give me strength to walk the soft earth, a relative to all that is.

It is in the darkness of their eyes that men lose their way.

I looked below and saw my people there, and all were well and happy except one, and he was lying like the dead - and that one was myself.

After the horse dance was over, it seemed that I was above the ground and did not touch it when I walked.

And I saw that the sacred hoop of my people as one of many hoops that made one circle.

I cured with the power that came through me.

The song and the drumming were like this: Behold, a sacred voice is calling you; All over the sky a sacred voice is calling.