Quotes from Kent Nerburn

Remember that you don't choose love; love chooses you. All you really can do is accept it for all its mystery when it comes into your life. Feel the way it fills you to overflowing then reach out and give it away.

Do not fall prey to the false belief that mastery and domination are synonymous with manliness.

Care less for your harvest than for how it is shared and your life will have meaning and your heart will have peace.

Something precious is lost if we rush headlong into the details of life without pausing for a moment to pay homage to the mystery of life and the gift of another day.

We must find a way to replace yearning for what life has withheld from us with gratitude for what we have been given.

Money is central to our lives. Yet money is not of central importance. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the lasting values that make life worth living.

Life is an endlessly creative experience, and we are shaping ourselves at every moment by every decision we make.

We live in a world alive with holy moments. We need only take the time to bring these moments into the light.

Until you have a son of your own... you will never know the joy, the love beyond feeling that resonates in the heart of a father as he looks upon his son.

Great joys make us love the world. Great sadnesses make us understand the world.

Remember to be gentle with yourself and others. We are all children of chance and none can say why some fields will blossom while others lay brown beneath the August sun.

Care less for your harvest than for how it is shared and your life will have meaning and your heart will have peace.

Do not fall prey to the false belief that mastery and domination are synonymous with manliness.

The spirit of the Native people, the first people, has never died. It lives in the rocks and the forests, the rivers and the mountains. It murmurs in the brooks and whispers in the trees. The hearts of these people were formed of the earth that we now walk, and their voice can never be silenced . — Kent Nerburn

The human being is a surprisingly resilient organism. We are impelled toward health not sickness. Your spirit, as surely as your body, will try to heal....So you should not fear tragedy and suffering. Like love, they make you more a part of the human family. From them can come your greatest creativity. They are the fire that burns you pure.

Your people must learn to give up their arrogance. They are not the only ones placed on this earth. Theirs is not the only way. People have worshiped the Creator and loved their families in many ways in all places. Your people must learn to honor this.

Our elders told us this was the best way to deal with white people. Be silent until they get nervous, then they will start talking. They will keep talking, and if you stay silent, they will say too much. Then you will be able to see into their hearts and know what they really mean. Then you will know what to do." "I imagine it works," I said.

Indian faith sought the harmony of man with his surroundings; the other sought the dominance of surroundings. In

Let us put our minds together and see what kind of life we can make for our children." — Sitting Bull I

We were taught that the old people and the babies were the closest to God and it was for them that we all lived. They were the most helpless and they needed us the most.

We do not wish to destroy your religion, or to take it from you. We only want to enjoy our own ." — Chief Red Jacket, 1805

But they shared in common a belief that the earth is a spiritual presence that must be honored, not mastered.

In my ears I have heard the words of Sitting Bull, telling me that white people are not to be trusted. But I have also heard the words of Black Kettle, who told us to reach out a hand of peace.

Memory is a fickle thing, a flickering light in a darkroom of possibilities.