Quotes from Joseph M. Marshall III

Life is a circle. The end of one journey is the beginning of the next.

Accepting that we have weaknesses becomes a strength.

Bravery is a requisite virtue because life demands it.

Respect is a close relative of tolerance, and both go a long way to prevent and alleviate the negative interactions between and among people. Respect was a member of each Lakota household during the free-roaming buffalo-hunting days on the northern plains.

The strength of a tree, the old ones say, comes not from growing thicker in the good years when there is water, but from staying alive in the bad, dry times.

Humility was a virtue that the Lakota of old expected their leaders to possess. A quiet, humble person, we believed, was aware of other people and other things. An arrogant, boastful man was only aware of himself. Interestingly, our methods of selecting leaders today seem to favor the arrogant and boastful.

In sharing the journey of life, travel with the humble person on the quiet path.

It is true that wealth buys power and influence, but it does not buy morality, or kindness, or compassion. The pursuit of wealth can blind us to the fact that all of us, rich or poor, can be generous with our time, love, kindness, and compassion. Those virtues, and many more, we can all have in unlimited supply.

And as the old men warned, power does not listen with honest ears to the whispers of the powerless.

Life is a circle. The end of one journey is the beginning of the next.

if one doesn't find a way to do what is necessary, it's easier the next time to find a way not to act. Furthermore, if one can do the necessary and sometimes seemingly mundane things, one has it within himself or herself to persevere when it becomes necessary.

In the end, wisdom is born of weakness as well as strength.

When an enemy throws the worst it can at us we must meet it with the best we have.

A humble person rarely stumbles, the old ones say, because such a person walks with face toward the Earth and can see the path ahead. On the other hand, the arrogant man who walks with his head high to bask in the glory of the moment will stumble often because he is more concerned with the moment than what lays ahead.

It was understandable, then, that the worth of a person was not measured in the things he or she owned, but in the deeds done on behalf of others.

Rarely did anyone dream of the Thunders, and anyone who did had a special calling to be a "sacred clown," the one who did the opposite of what was expected.

Ghosts, the old warriors said, were the price a fighting man paid to follow the path of the warrior;

The strength of a tree, the old ones say, comes not from growing thicker in the good years when there is water, but from staying alive in the bad, dry times.

You can think whatever you want, say whatever you want, and do whatever you want, as long as you are willing to face the consequences.