Quotes from Tecumseh

Show respect to all people, but grovel to none.

Let us form one body, one heart, and defend to the last warrior our country, our homes, our liberty, and the graves of our fathers.

I am a Shawnee. My forefathers were warriors. Their son is a warrior. From them, I take my only existence.

My father! The sun is my father, and the earth is my mother, and on her bosom I will recline.

When Jesus Christ came upon the Earth, you killed Him. The son of your own God. And only after He was dead did you worship Him and start killing those who would not.

Sell a country! Why not sell the air, the clouds and the great sea, as well as the earth? Did not the Great Spirit make them all for the use of his children?

Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.

Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.

Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view and demand that they respect yours.

The white usurpation in our common country must be stopped, or we, its rightful owners, be forever destroyed and wiped out as a race of people. I am now at the head of many warriors backed by the strong arm of English soldiers. Choctaws and Chickasaws, you have too long borne with grievous usurpation inflicted by the arrogant Americans.

Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.

Since my residence at Tippecanoe, we have endeavored to level all distinctions, to destroy village chiefs, by whom all mischiefs are done. It is they who sell the land to the Americans.

When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength.

I have made myself what I am. And I would that I could make the red people as great as the conceptions of my own mind, when I think of the Great Spirit that rules over us all.

Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, or even a stranger, if in a lonely place.

Brothers, we must be united; we must smoke the same pipe; we must fight each other's battles; and more than all, we must love the Great Spirit.

Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.

From my tribe I take nothing, I am the maker of my own fortune.

When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.

When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.

A single twig breaks, but the bundle of twigs is strong.

When the legends die, the dreams end; there is no more greatness.

Sell a country! Why not sell the air, the clouds and the great sea, as well as the earth? Did not the Great Spirit make them all for the use of his children?

These lands are ours. No one has a right to remove us, because we were the first owners. The Great Spirit above has appointed this place for us, on which to light our fires, and here we will remain. As to boundaries, the Great Spirit knows no boundaries, nor will his red children acknowledge any.