Top 50 Chief Seattle Quotes (2024 Update)

1. “Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realise that we can not eat money.”

— Chief Seattle

2. “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.”

— Chief Seattle

3. “There is no death, only a change of worlds.”

— Chief Seattle

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4. “Take nothing but memories, leave nothing but footprints!”

— Chief Seattle

5. “Earth does not belong to us; we belong to earth. Take only memories, leave nothing but footprints.”

— Chief Seattle

6. “The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”

— Chief Seattle

7. “Man belongs to the Earth, Earth does not belong to man.”

— Chief Seattle

8. “Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.”

— Chief Seattle

9. “Humans merely share the Earth. We can only protect the land, not own it.”

— Chief Seattle

10. “If all the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to the man. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth.”

— Chief Seattle

11. “This We Know. All Things Are Connected.”

— Chief Seattle

12. “When the Earth is sick, the animals will begin to disappear, when that happens, The Warriors of the Rainbow will come to save them.”

— Chief Seattle

13. “We are all children of the Great Spirit, we all belong to Mother Earth. Our planet is in great trouble and if we keep carrying old grudges and do not work together, we will all die.”

— Chief Seattle

14. “How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? Every part of the earth is sacred to my people.”

— Chief Seattle

15. “We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumes flowers are our sisters; the deer, the horse, the great eagle: these are our brothers. All things are connected like the blood which unites one’s family.”

— Chief Seattle

16. “All things are connected. Whatever befalls the Earth, befalls the children of the Earth.”

— Chief Seattle

17. “There is no such place as away.”

— Chief Seattle

18. “What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would die from great loneliness of spirit.”

— Chief Seattle

19. “Contaminate your bed and you will one night suffocate in your own waste.”

— Chief Seattle

20. “All creation is one. What we do to one, we do to the entire web of life.”

— Chief Seattle

21. “All things are bound together. All things connect.”

— Chief Seattle

22. “We are a part of the earth and it is part of us.”

— Chief Seattle

23. “This we know, the earth does not belong to man; man belongs to earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. So hold in your mind the memory on the land as it is when you take it. And, with all your strength, with all your mind, and with all your heart...”

— Chief Seattle

24. “The earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.”

— Chief Seattle

25. “What is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around the pool at night?”

— Chief Seattle

26. “Every part of the earth is sacred to my people.”

— Chief Seattle

27. “We do not own the freshness of the air or the sparkle of the water. How can you buy them from us?”

— Chief Seattle

28. “Our God, the Great Spirit, seems also to have forsaken us. Your God makes your people wax stronger every day. Soon they will fill all the land.”

— Chief Seattle

29. “There is no quiet place in the white man’s cities. No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in spring, or the rustle of an insect’s wings. But perhaps it is because I am a savage and do not understand. The clatter only seems to insult the ears.”

— Chief Seattle

30. “The water’s murmur is the voice of my father’s father.”

— Chief Seattle

31. “Tribe follows tribe, nations follow nations like the tides of the sea. It is the order of nature, and regret is useless.”

— Chief Seattle

32. “The air is precious to the red man, for all things share the same breath-the beast, the tree, the man, they all share the same breath. The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes. Like a man dying for many days, he is numb to the stench.”

— Chief Seattle

33. “We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on.”

— Chief Seattle

34. “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 Seattle

35. “When the green hills are covered with talking wires and the wolves no longer sing, what good will the money you paid for our land be then.”

— Chief Seattle

36. “To us, the ashes of our ancestors are sacred and their resting place is hallowed ground.”

— Chief Seattle

37. “Like a man who has been dying for many days, a man in your city is numb to the stench.”

— Chief Seattle

38. “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 Seattle

39. “To harm the earth is to heap contempt on its creator.”

— Chief Seattle

40. “Your God is not our God! Your God loves your people and hates mine! He folds his strong protecting arms lovingly about the paleface and leads him by the hand as a father leads an infant son.”

— Chief Seattle

41. “All things are connected like the blood which unites one family.”

— Chief Seattle

42. “The whites, too, shall pass – perhaps sooner than other tribes. Continue to contaminate your own bed, and you might suffocate in your own waste.”

— Chief Seattle

43. “Your religion was written on tablets of stone, ours on our hearts. 8. We are part of the earth and the earth is part of us.”

— Chief Seattle

44. “The white man’s dead forget the country of their birth when they go to walk among the stars. Our dead never forget this beautiful Earth, for it is the mother of the red man. We are part of the Earth and it is part of us.”

— Chief Seattle

45. “Our religion is the traditions of our ancestors – the dreams of our old men, given them in solemn hours of the night by the Great Spirit; and the visions of our sachems, and is written in the hearts of our people.”

— Chief Seattle

46. “My words are like the stars that never change.”

— Chief Seattle

47. “I will not dwell on, nor mourn over, our untimely decay, nor reproach my paleface brothers with hastening it, as we too may have been somewhat to blame.”

— Chief Seattle

48. “The white man’s God cannot love our people or He would protect them. They seem to be orphans who can look nowhere for help. How then can we be brothers?”

— Chief Seattle

49. “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 Seattle

50. “Whatever Seattle says, the great chief at Washington can rely upon with as much certainty as he can upon the return of the sun or the seasons.”

— Chief Seattle