The Depth of Wisdom: Insightful Navajo Sayings

The strongest oak of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It’s the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun.

We are all one child spinning through Mother Sky.

Walk lightly in the spring; Mother Earth is pregnant.

In the house of long life, there I wander.

It is not good to point at a rainbow.

Pray to your higher self, not to the god of someone else.

Be still and the earth will speak to you.

One finger cannot lift a pebble.

Thoughts are like arrows: once released, they strike their mark. Guard them well.

The energy of the mind is the essence of life.

The rain is our blessing, the wind is our breath for the world.

Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark.

With beauty before me, may I walk.

Always assume your guest is tired, cold and hungry, and act accordingly.

Old age is not as honorable as death, but most people want it.

Wisdom comes only when you stop looking for it and start living the life the Creator intended for you.

Don?t let your moccasins hit the ground before your prayers are finished.

To touch the earth is to have harmony with Nature.

Even a small mouse has anger.

When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.

With beauty before me, I walk.

Remember your ancestors, they are your strength.

The mountain retains the wisdom of time.

To touch the earth is to have harmony with nature.

Always assume your guest is tired, cold, and hungry, and act accordingly.

In beauty, it is finished.

The one who plants the corn, does the harvesting.

Only when you have walked in your neighbor’s moccasins, you will truly understand their journey.

Medicine comes from the earth, not from a bottle.

A brave man dies but once, a coward many times.

We do not inherit the land, we borrow it from our children.

You can’t wake a person who is pretending to be asleep.

The darkness is a tunnel; walk until you reach the end.

How we walk with the broken, speaks louder than how we sit with the great.

Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?

The path is beautiful. Walk with beauty.

In the house of friends, honey is not sweet.

The earth has received the embrace of the sun and we shall see the results of that love.

The man who is not hungry says the coconut has a hard shell.

When we show respect for other living things, they respond with respect for us.

One finger cannot lift a pebble.

Your feet will take you away from your relatives, but your stomach will bring you back.

In beauty it is begun, in beauty it is ended.

When a man moves away from nature his heart becomes hard.

When the bushes are shaking, remember the rabbit.

You can’t wake a person who is pretending to be asleep.

The rainbow is a sign from Him who is in all things.

Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted.

Listen, or your tongue will make you deaf.

One?s eyes are what one is, one?s mouth is what one becomes.

The frog does not drink up the pond in which it lives.

Even while they teach, men learn.

The beloved child of the family may not eat meat of an animal s/he has provided for the family until s/he is old enough to be responsible for the entire process.

A people without history is like wind on the buffalo grass.

It is not up to us to think that the world will go on forever, it is up to us to worry that one day the world will end.

If you want to see what your thoughts look like, lift the lid of your heart and look in.

Old age is not as honorable as death, but most people want it.

Life is a prey to be captured with snares and deadfalls.

Selected portions are anointed with white corn meal.

It is better to begin to think in the territory of dreams while you are still alive.